If I pick 10 different meta keywords for my website... Does it matter in which order I place them in my index or do they get read in the order that I type them in? Or does that even matter?
That statement seems to very from person to person. Why are there so many SEO blogs out there brainwashing us with useless info than?
are you talking about META keywords? <meta name="keywords" content="..."> google and most other search engines don't pay attention to meta tags at all... they count for almost nothing. but they're still good to have (a lot of people will use meta keywords to keep track of the keywords they're focusing on for each page). anyway, in general, most search engines put more weight on content that's at the top of the page.
Even though many argue that they are useless, I still include them in my websites as a "just in case" measure. You might as well answer his question rather than bash him for wanting to include them. I know for a fact that they certainly don't hurt anything. I don't think it really matters in what order you put them. I would probably include the one you want to rank highest for first. Remember that the phrase you should be pushing for should be extremely relative and not too competitive. This is my opinion anyway.
I dont think it matters in your meta keywords, i read before though that it matters for your Title, suggested to put the most important keyword first.
important keywords should always be first... and although the meta description and keywords aren't weighted for most major search engines, it's still a good idea to use them, as google still does "look at them", and sometimes will use parts of your Description tag for the description in their search results. plus, maybe some less visited, or international search engines still use keywords/description meta tags.
Don't worry about the META keywords tag. Just put the keywords in your page copy (the text people read) instead. And don't try to hide them either. Some search engines still use them, but they place next to no emphasis on them. dcristo has a good answer. I'll add to it (below). That and they're trying to either sell you something or make themselves look far more knowledgable than they really are. (Note: I am not talking about those who are learning - I'm specifically talking about those who know better yet do it anyway.) I wouldn't say "at the top" but "as close to the top as is reasonably possible" instead. In other words, make your point first, then explain it later. (Traditioanl writing has you introduce an idea, explain it, then come to a conclusion - on the Web you do the opposite.) And a good opinion it is. I tend to put the ones I want to rank best for first anyway, but as you said, it's just a "personal reminder" more than anything. Yes, and to keep the title short, sweet and to the point as well. The same also tends to hold true for the META description element as well.
yes it matters what order they are in if they are human readable and can form a humourous sentence I would greatly appreciate that. Otherwise no, sadly.