SEO is confusing enough and with articles on the web contradicting each other it is not surprising that website owners feel bewildered. So let's set the matter straight on the subject of meta tagging.
What Are Meta Tags?
If you are not a website designer, programmer, SEO analyst or website owner already focused on search engine optimisation you probably have never heard of meta tags. So what are they? Where can they be found? And why are they important if they are important at all?
Meta tags are often part of the coding of a website, although they are being found less and less these days. Meta tags are elements of the web page language HTML or XHTML that provide metadata, data or information for the search engines about that webpage. Meta tags can be used to detail the page description, keywords and other data not specified in the head elements of the page.
Is Keyword Meta Tagging Important?
Back in the 1990s keyword meta tagging was all the rage. Simply by using this page element you could improve your search engine rankings with ease. But then came spammers, people who stuffed these keyword meta tags to bursting point with spam keywords so that they ranked higher than genuine websites.
This factor together with improved robot and search engine spider technology has meant that these programmes have learnt to all but completely ignore this element of the website coding, in fact Google, the number one search engine used worldwide, no longer uses meta keywords at all.
So does this mean that they are no longer of any use at all? Well lots of articles on and off the net will say that keyword meta tagging is no longer important. A lot of website designers will tell you that they are of no importance. But the fact is some search engines out there still use them and Google and other search engines use these tags for some of their results and to find websites. The answer therefore is keyword meta tagging is less important but not of no importance. The simple rule is to not spend too much time on this element and only have around 6 to 10 keywords in this element per page.
Are Meta Content Descriptions of Any Use to SEO?
The simple answer is yes. A lot of search engines use this area to find out what the website is about and whether it is relevant to the search. Use this element to describe your website and include a call to action as this is quite often the description found on the search engine rankings. Although it has been reported that Google does not use this element this is not strictly true, Google uses it less than it used to but it does still use the element on a regular enough basis for it to be an important element of your SEO campaign.
In summary, both meta keyword and content descriptions have their place in SEO and it is far better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them. Remember though these are a small element of your website optimisation so too much resource should not be spent on them.
Samuel O'Prey - I am the marketing manager with 10 years online design, development and marketing experience and over 8 years telemarketing, direct ...
