The Importance of Meta Data When Doing SEO
87What is Meta Data?
Meta data provides information about a site. This information gives search engines an idea of what a site is about. Since meta data is hidden away in a site's markup, visitors can't see it, but search engines can. There are several types of meta data, but we're going to talk about the three most important parts that make up meta data: 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," Bobs 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 similarly 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.
Why You Need Meta Data
Meta information is very important to a site's well being when it comes
to SEO. Many people say that you don't need meta keywords because
"Google doesn't use meta keywords 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, it's a bad idea to not put meta keywords in
a site's markup.
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 wouldn't be getting if it didn't have meta keywords.
- Google doesn't care about meta keywords one way or the other. No sites will be penalized by Google for having meta keywords.
- They are easy to add to a site. Since all search engines, even Google, like to see meta descriptions, you might as well add meta keywords. Meta keywords are right next to meta descriptions in a site's markup.
How to Add Meta Data
Each site has an main page or an index page. In the file for this page,
a web developer or site admin, will find the open head tag. Right after
this tag, the site admin should enter their meta data. Meta data looks
like the following code:
<head> <meta content='georgia peaches, peaches from georgia, peach orchards' name='keywords'/> <meta content='Lisa's Peach Stand sells the juicest peaches in Georgia' name='description'/> <meta content='index,follow' name='robots'/>
Meta Data Mistakes
There are a few easily fixable problems that people run into with their meta data:
Sometimes search engines are not allowed to view a site. There are a
few reasons why a person would not want the search engines to index a
site, but for those who are creating websites for SEO purposes, it's
important that a search engine indexes a site. If a web developer is
having a problem with search engines indexing his or her site, it's
important that they have the robot tag configured properly. In the
above example, the robot tag is configured in such a way that it's
telling the search engine "Hey, you are allowed to see this site and
index it!" This is what someone doing SEO on their site wants their
site to be saying to search engines.
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 in 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.
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Comments
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.
meta tags are very mportant..
some simple SEO can improve ur page ranking dramatically, try it... http://hubpages.com/hub/Search-Engine-optimization
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
Great info. I am looking to boost my page at
http://www.slrcameraphotography.blogspot.com
and I plan to use meta data
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?
Dan, there are many other ways competitors can view your keywords such as do a backlink search on a domain. Also, search engines like Google do not use meta tags (that we know of) however Yahoo does. Why give an extra 25%+ traffic?
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.
SEO Manchester says:
6 months ago
Thanks, very useful