What Meta Tags Are & How to Optimize Metadata for SEO
88The use of metadata by search engines, including meta keywords, has changed extensively throughout the years. While many of the rules regarding metadata remain the same, it is now an area of lesser importance when it comes to SEO. That said, meta tag optimization is still an important aspect of search engine optimization, so it is important to employ many of these so-called "deprecated" techniques to ensure high SERP rankings
Following these rules pertaining to metadata can help ensure a site's high ranking in search results. While Google does not use metadata for site rankings, there still are search engines that do. A variety of websites and syndication services also rely on meta data. Furthermore, Google even pulls your site's description from your meta data for use in the SERPs.
While meta tag optimization is still useful, it's important to note that there is no reason to stress out over meta data. This article is meant to serve as an informational piece on meta data today as well as its historical importance. Feel free to comment, however, on your thoughts and feelings (particularly in the modern usage of meta tags and meta data in SEO.)
What is Meta Data? What are Meta Tags?
Meta data provides information about a site. This information gives search engines an idea of what a site is about. Since metadata is hidden away in a site's markup, visitors can't see it, but search engines can. There are several types of metadata, but we're going to talk about the three most important parts that make up meta tag optimization: meta keywords, meta descriptions, and the robot tag.
Meta descriptions are actually one of the few things that visitors will see, but they won't see it on your site. Here is an example:
Bob has a site about sports cars and in his meta description, he has written, "The ultimate guide to European and American sport cars."
When someone searches in Google with the term "sports cars," Bob's site may show up in the results. If it does, the listing will show his meta description. In short, meta descriptions tell people what a site is about before they even visit it.
What Do Meta Keywords Do?
Meta keywords work very similar to meta descriptions, but instead of telling Internet users what a site is about, it tells the search engine. Here is an example:
Lisa's site is about Georgia peaches. In her meta keywords, she has written, "Georgia peaches, peaches from Georgia, peach orchards" By writing these keywords, Lisa is telling search engines that her site is about Georgia peaches, peaches from Georgia, and peach orchards. Annette searches in a search engine for the term "peaches from Georgia." Since Lisa's site has this phrase in its meta keywords, the search engine may show Lisa's website to Annette in the search listings.
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Why You Need Meta Data
Meta information is very important to a site's well being when it comes to SEO. The part of SEO that deals with metadata is known as meta tag optimization. Many people say that you don't need meta keywords because "Google doesn't use meta data in their algorithm and since Google is the most popular search engine, there's no need to use them." That is a myth. While there is no argument that Google is the most popular search engine in the world and they also reportedly do not use metadata as a way to weigh sites, it's a bad idea to ignore meta tag optimization.
Here's why:
- Other search engines use meta keywords in their algorithms and although they won't make up the larger portion of a site's traffic, it is traffic the site may not be getting if it didn't have meta keywords.
- Google doesn't care about meta keywords at all, so no sites will be penalized by Google for having meta keywords.
- Meta tags are easy to add. It's as simple as adding a tiny bit of html right after your <head> tag. Many content management systems even do all the work for you. Those using something like Wordpress are blessed with the number of plug-ins available that help out with meta data.
- Google uses meta descriptions to give searchers more information about your site. Without a meta description, Google will hand-pick something from the site it feels is relevant to what the searcher is looking for. While this can be helpful, having a clean and well-written meta description can really entice searchers that YOUR site is the one they are looking for. While it has no impact on a site's ranking, it can help click-through rates.
How to Add Meta Data
Each site has a main page or an index page. In the file for this page, a web developer or site admin, should is to look for the open head tag: <head>. Right after this tag, the site admin should enter their meta data. The following example shows what meta data should look like:
<head> <title>Lisa's Peach Stand</title> <meta content='georgia peaches, peach orchards' name='keywords'/> <meta content='Lisa's Peach Stand sells peaches' name='description'/> </head>
Quick Poll
Do you use meta data?
See results without votingIndex & Follow Tags are Unnecessary
<meta content='index,follow' name='robots'/>
Meta Data Mistakes
There are a few easily fixable problems that people run into when they are optimizing their meta data. For example, sometimes metadata is set up to disallow search engines from indexing a site. There are a few reasons webmasters set their sites up to block search engine, but those creating websites for SEO purposes should make sure search engines are NOT blocked.
If a website isn't being indexed in the search engines, generally the first thing a webmaster will do is make sure their robots tag is not blocking search engines. By default, if a site does NOT have a robot tag, search engines will index it. Many webmasters write a robot tag that essentially says "allow search engines to index this", but this is unnecessary as search engines will only avoid indexing a site if there is a robot tag that disallows them from doing so. (Or if it's been blacklisted, but that's a whole different issue.)
Another problem that people run into is giving search engines too much information. Sites are allowed a max of 10 keywords in their meta data. Here's an example:
Lisa's site has three meta keywords which are "Georgia peaches, peaches from Georgia, peach orchards." Gina, who is Lisa's competition has 12 keywords which are "peaches from Georgia, Georgia peaches, peach orchards, peach orchard, peaches, Georgia, Georgia peaches, Gina's peach stand, juicy peaches, peaches from the south, ripe peaches, fresh peaches"
Because Gina has more than 10 keywords and Lisa has only 3, Lisa stands a better chance of doing well in the search engine. The same rule applies to meta descriptions, except web developers are allowed a max of 150 characters for meta descriptions. Remember that it's 150 characters and not 150 words. While this isn't one of the biggest SEO mistakes a web developer can make, it still can negatively affect search engine rankings.
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thanks for the info. now that i know i will do that on my site.
God informative hub, meta data keywords is still useful to the spiders, though people keep saying they are dead.
its really important to see meta tags. and meta keywords is really important in seo point of view.
MEta tag is just important
thanks for information
Meta tage is very important in SEO. Because the keyowrds used in meta tags are indexed by search engines.
Cool article. I totally agree. I always use unique and keyword rich meta tags for eachpage. The title tag is the most important on page seo factor imo
I am glad so many people have found my SEO tips to be so helpful. Thank you all for the awesome comments!
I have read a few articles about the relevance of meta data and it seems there are clashing views. In researching I found that most search engines do not use meta keywords because of misuse. Also I've read that this could have negative effects on your business because competitors can view your keywords. Any thoughts?
I don't know why people keep saying META tags are dead. Description is very important in getting those clicks from search engine results and although key words are not that important any more it doesn't hurt to add them.
Great
Nice hub. Very useful information on META data and well explained. Neil
They are important to the engines that still use meta tags to look for what keywords are important, safe bet is to use them period.
Nice Post! When i started writing in HubPages I had no idea about meta tags and other SEO stuff. I have learned a lot therough this site.
Great hub! I know that people say meta tags are, for the most part, useless because Google disregards keywords, but both the title and meta description tags are both still very useful.
Nonetheless, your explanation on meta tags was great!
Nice lovely hub! keywords are important for seo
Thanks for the info, great explanation. I look forward to reading more :D
I am always in search of this kind of articles. Thanks for your great article. keep continue
I am bookmarking this hub with the intention to keep coming back and collect all the useful info you placed here! Thanks because I really found this hub helpful!
Thanks for writing this! Appreciate the lesson. I need to do this right away!
Excellent article, I wasnt quite sure about the whole meta thing.Now I understand!
Just one question you mention at the end that you should only have 10 keywords per site. Does that mean I should only give my hubs 10 tags each?
Excellent work. It completely informs the readers about the meta data. After reading it people must be aware of its importance.
Nice work consolidating this information. While it is indeed important to implement meta descriptions, there is no guarantee Google will display your meta description as its snippet on the results page. Using popular keywords and high-quality writing (yes, even within the 160 character limit) will encourage Google to choose your carefully-crafted meta description over less predictable bits of content from your site.
Super Articles
When I started my journey to internet marketing, I was not aware of many techniques and do's of the internet world. It took me two years to figure things out. Talking about your hub, its very nice and informative. Within just 5 minutes someone can easily understand the importance of meta tags. I wish you posted this hub two years ago, I wouldn't have wasted a lot of time searching for information. Thanks and to all those newbies, this hub has got very good information. Make sure you follow it!
Nice post. Though I would argue that there are more important SEO aspects to focus on before meta keywords. Of the top 3 search engines (google, yahoo, bing), only yahoo still uses them, but hardly weighted at all. While they're certainly not bad to have, it won't kill you if you skip them.
As far as Google is concerned, they do not take the meta keywords into account.While some other search engines still take the meta keywords..
nice hub.
Now this is what i call useful information ! But i also think the meta keywords are a little outdated.
great info.
Useful post, really helps me to increase my search engine ranking.
Good information, but bad idea re: keywords in the meta data.
Bad idea because 1) your competition just got handed an easy list of your keywords...2) the other search engines are still improving all the time.
The keyword tag is meaningless, and IMHO a great way to inform your competitors what to optimize their pages for.
Being an SEO, I view met tags as one of the important key aspects of search engine optimization.
Great article by the way. keep up the good work.
Thanks for the info, will be incorporating this into my SEO strategy
Great posting - it's a short and sweet explanation of what meta data is and the importance of it. Thanks :)
Thank yooooouuuu! Not a lot of folks know how to break things down so that the novice can understand.Your awesome!
I have seen a lot of gurus out there saying that this is all outdated? Are they just ripped?
Jersey, much of this IS actually outdated. Much of it does apply to the smaller search engines, but it really is outdated when it comes to Google. As the opening line says: "this is a/an historic piece on meta tag optimization." That being said, meta tags are still helpful for SEO just not directly... it's one of those "every little bit helps" type of things.
really nice hubs..
Very useful, Thanks
I can't agree with this post at all. Meta data is just as important as ever, without it, sites will never rank for the keywords the webmaster desires.
Titles should contain a few keywords and the description should be both relevant and rich in keyword content. I only believe the meta keywords are worthless as many sites just spam this area.
Great hub! Thanks for explaining a complex issue in easy to follow terms. It was really helpful.
The description should show the relevant seed keywords you are aiming for at least twice so people can see it but not more than that.
good hub - nicely explained - even for net virgin like me.
Minor point - you mention robot tag but don't say whether this is different from the keywords or meta data.
Both meta keywords and robot tags are types of meta data -- both are types of tags.
Get listed in as many directories as possible. The more traffic a directory has the better. Getting listed under the most relevant category lets search engines know more about your website and also leads relevant traffic your way. Craftmatic
It was a great informative article about SEO & Metadata. I am new to web designing, basically I am creative director, and very much interested into strategic insights to maximize the brands visibility. I am trying to learn about online marketing. I just need to know is it necessary to know HTML for inserting Metadata or it can be done using Flash
Regards,
Jasmeet Singh
jasmeet.warraich@gmail.com
While flash CAN be search engine friendly, I really recommend that you use HTML for things such as meta data. I avoid using flash at all costs because while Google can read some flash files if written correctly, it's MUCH easier and overall better for SEO to use HTML. HTML is easy, you don't even need to know much HTML at all... just what you need to use for the meta data, where it goes, and that's it.
Hi! Mebels,
Very informative article on about meta data for SEO. This line i like most "Remember that it's 150 characters and not 150 words"
Regards
Gauri
This isa great things to do in SEO meta data
Thanks again--so appreciate such well-done hubs and the comments they generate. This kind of help is invaluable to those of us who are trying to put all the pieces together without much of a foundation to work from. Voted up.
Good descriptive information about SEO & Metadata.Looking forward for the next post like this.
You have such an easy reading style. Question: Are meta tags in HubPages the tags we add to the right? Showing my ignorance.
MsDee, on HubPages we only use the meta description. This is what you put in your summary when you write (or after, if you're like me) your hub. Write it in a way that will entice people but also contain keywords. This is the description of your hub that Google search will put for your hub on its search results page.
Ohh, thanks for getting me clear on this!
Does this apply to hub pages? Can you put meta data in hub pages?
although one seo consultant said that keywords were still valid, they were 2 years ago (the time of their comment) nowadays becasue of keyword stuffing within this metadata, most search engines ignore this. good hub
Wow, that was a lot of work! And I know its dated, but some of the information still works, I guess its best to experiment since every seo expert has their own opinion, it really gets crazy trying to keep up. I try to watch googles Matt Cutts regular for clues.
Ridiculous how misinformed I was about metadata. Thanks for the update! I'll probably just be skipping meta keywords all together.
Meta data plays an important role in optimization, so fill you meta data with proper keywords, and do not exceed limit of meta description,write short and very informative description
Meta description helps to increase the website CTR
SEO Manchester 3 years ago
Thanks, very useful