(Entry was posted by Tony McCreath on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 08/02/2014).

What is a keyword?

What`s a keyword?

Here`s my go at it:

An identified word or phrase that is assumed/known to be used frequently as part or all of a users search query.

Search engines do not have such a limited view of keywords when indexing pages and matching them with search queries. For every keyword you identify there may be many words and phrases that your content may rank for.

So thinking about "how many keywords" is a moot point. One should think more about covering the topic you want to rank for while including your identified keywords where it fits.

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Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

Tony McCreath: What's a keyword?

Here's my go at it:

An identified word or phrase that is assumed/known to be used frequently as part or all of a users search query.

Search engines do not have such a limited view of keywords when indexing pages and matching them with search queries. For every keyword you identify there may be many words and phrases that your content may rank for.

So thinking about "how many keywords" is a moot point. One should think more about covering the topic you want to rank for while including your identified keywords where it fits.
Ryan Cramer: Thanks +Tony McCreath ;for a good explanation. ;Sometimes I'm surprised how many people are stuck in the stone age about keywords. ;Although I miss the "Good old Days" where a good percentage or markup on a keyword was all you need, with the maturing of The Algorithm and the vast number of pages on the net, "topics", concepts, ideas, are a better way to describe what we've been saying about "relative content" for the past 20+ years.
Edwin Jonk: From the expert panel in this weeks SEO Questions hangout on air on 03:08:47 into the YouTube video: https://dumbseoquestions.com/q/what_is_a_keyword +Tony McCreath

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