In data retrieval, an index word, subject phrase, topic name, or description, in electronic data retrieval, is a word that captures the essence of an item or document’s subject matter. Subject terms constitute a specialized vocabulary for use in electronic data retrieval. The subjects’ dictionary or index word list can be found in software packages such as LAPIS and IQlib; they are called “abbreviated index terms” (abbreviated index, to give an example). Data retrieval software uses these abbreviated index words to locate and select a piece of electronic data. For instance, if the document is a newspaper article on animal rights, the subject phrase “animal rights” will search for articles that have been published in that period.
Keyword density is determined by the number of times a keyword appears in the text compared to the total number of words in the document. An index term’s keyword density is based upon the total word count and the number of times the keyword appears in the title and Table of Contents. For the purposes of searching electronic data for topics, the word count and the keyword density are logarithmically related. A lower keyword density will result in better results when a keyword is selected and the document is sorted according to its subject matter.
There are a number of approaches that marketers use to determine the best keywords for search engine optimization. Many marketers use search volume to determine which keywords to advertise under, but this metric is problematic because the quality of traffic generated through search engines (the so-called traffic quality score) is largely influenced by the number of advertisements displayed on the first page of search results, where most of online users look first. As a result, clever advertisers have come up with ways to get more visitors to their sites through paid advertisements on the first page of search results, thus artificially boosting their ad budget and resulting in poor quality rankings for their keywords. To avoid such situations, search engines have developed ways of counting ad clicks so that better quality results can be obtained.
Keyword targeting is another aspect of search engine optimization that should be given due consideration. Depending on the type of business you run, you should consider whether your marketing strategy should focus primarily on local or global keywords, and if the international distribution of your ads is worthwhile. Local marketing strategy can often yield better results, as people in the target geographical area are likely to be interested in the products and services your company provides. However, global advertising campaigns may be worthwhile if you can afford to create ads that are not specifically targeted to a particular geographic location.
Other important considerations in keyword targeting include the type of ads you choose to use, how these ads will be presented in search results, and how you will track the effectiveness of these ads. For example, it would be useless to advertise the sale of plastic bricks on the first page of Google if these are not differentiated from traditional banners or pop-ups. Further, it would be pointless to use a keyword like “plants grow green” if the ads do not include images of real plants. It may be best to avoid the usage of keywords altogether, as the search engines will quickly detect such activity and demote your site to an obscure position on the first page of results. The use of keyword phrases and synonyms is also often used by clever marketers in order to make websites more appealing to customers.
The keyword with the highest daily search volume is called the “volume key” in SEMrush. The term “volume key” is derived from the fact that the number of daily searches performed using a particular keyword is often the basis for deciding which adverts should be shown on a site. In general, the keyword with the highest monthly searches is also the one that receives the most advertising dollars, and thus is the focus of many SEM initiatives. A keyword with a low monthly volume is generally seen as a lower risk but still potentially profitable, keyword.