Using meta keywords

What is the best number of keywords?

[showtime]

hi

I want to know how many keywords to use for SEO? I join Microsoft Small Business Directory also give SEO service and they are saying use 3-4 keywords for a page because it is harder to optimize a web page by using more than 3-4 pages.

but before I used another online SEO website they are saying use as many as keywords that u can use.

Which is true?

please help

Anil

[ken_b]

My own opinion is that the actual number of keywords should be set by the content of the page. And those keyowrds should actually appear on the page.

It's hard for me to imagine a page that effectively targets more than a few keywords.

I think it's better to have more pages, each targeting one, or just a few, keyowrds rather than trying to build one big page that less effectively targets a lot of kwywords.

That said, plenty of people debate whether or not meta keywords are even worth bothering with. I use them, but try not to overdo it, or expect much in return.

[Robert Charlton]

but before I used another online SEO website they are saying use as many as keywords that u can use.

Definitely not a good approach. The essence of onpage optimization is focus... and the question is how focussed you need to be on a given page.

Here's a good discussion about the number of keywords in a title, which closely correlates to the number of keywords targeted by a page.

Title Tags: A badly written title will sink your site
How to sabotage your web site without even knowing it.
[webmasterworld.com...]