In casual conversation, the terms “keyword” and “query” mean roughly the same thing. We know what someone is saying (or writing) when we see the word “query” where it should be the word “keyword.”
But there is a difference between the two. A query is different from a keyword.
This seems like a semantic and rather annoying little difference. In some ways, it is. But as search professionals, it helps to be informed about the difference, so we can better communicate with our clients, our service providers, and our team members. What’s more, knowing the difference between queries and keywords helps us to become better at our jobs as SEOs.