The tags you put in when creating an article... are those HTML META Tags? Google stopped paying attention to those in like 1999, and I don't think any important search engine uses them -at all-
Is there any use in filling them in?
They're used internally in HubPages. With these tags, they come up with the list of Related Hubs in the feed on the right side of a Hub - and in other places, such as on Question/ Answer pages.
Ah! I knew there had to be some sort of logical reason.
I had to dig deep into my memory banks - back to a time when mankind was still bashing out DOS commands with a club, and praying to the screeching modulation gods for a decent handshake, to even remember what an HTML META Tag was!
Well, would you believe, I think we still have some 5.25" (?) floppy disks around somewhere. Exceptionally ancient stuff!
they most certainly have something to do with where your articles get placed in google directories. I have had results in which good tags placed my articles on the first page of the directory.
These days I don't think many people even connect the idea of tags to metatags an more--they think more of blgo and amazon tags that help them search.
How are tags completely useless? They are not, considering tags are the same as "keywords" and keywords are search terms people put into search engines so they can find what they are looking for.
Therefore, tags/keywords are not useless.
The major search engines no longer rely upon meta tags within the HTML header line, however they do still use the meta description tag, The Meta Title tag and another one, I forgot the name but it commands Google to crawl your pages links as well.
As for tags on Hubpages, I suppose they can contribute in a small way.
I really would like to know the answer.
I recall hearing that if we have too many tags that it lowers our hub's score. I can see the good reason for having related hubs on a hub's page, so maybe we should only have, say, five to ten tags on a hub?
Hey Wesman, if you have too many tags, then HP will flag your hub for excessive tagging. And, also, if you do have too many tags, then there is also a possibility that you will have some tags that are deceptive? Which HP will also flag.
well, I knew that. I had one of my satire pieces un published way back before hp ever un published anything. Supposedly I had it in the wrong category, and they hated one of my tags, which was Google worthy Satire "evil white people." . . .which was a reference to ME, and MY FAMILY.
Moderator said the tag "evil white people" was "hate speech."
I didn't realize I hated my self so badly, I suppose I should be arrested for the hate crime of hating myself.
I think you are pretty safe so long as each tag is absolutely connected to the main topic of the hub.
When you create a tag here on HP you actually create a new page. This page is used for internal linking and the tag links to other hubs that also use the same tag (keyword.) Go ahead, click on one of your hub's tags and see where it takes you. If others have used the same tag then it will take you to a related tag page.
Keep in mind that the more tags that you use on your hubs the more link juice you are giving away. You actually weaken your hub. Only use tags that are absolutely related to your topic and are actually in the body of your text.
Tags that are in the body of your text will strengthen your hub by relating it to the tag page that was created. When many people use the same tag then that related tag page will help boost your hubs rankings. How much help really depends on the strength of the tag (keyword) and if people are actually searching for that word.
This is why it is very important to pay close attention to your content, do a little research prior to writing, and make full use of other on-page SEO techniques (URL, Titles, H1 and H2 tags, Captions, Unique descriptions, etc.) Also, avoid the page leaks, such as too many tags, unrelated one way links, links inside the comments, link karma to hubs that are not yours.
livewithrichard - Your comment here helps me finally understand the purpose of the tags! Thanks for this
Question: Are you saying linking to hubs not my own is a page leak so potentially reduces traffic?
Linking to hubs not your own is a page leak and could have negative effects on your own hub. Just because you may use the same keyword as someone else does not mean that your topic is the same. Linking to unrelated topics will reduce the authority you are trying to build with your hubs.
The hubs tags you type in have magical properties.... they link together all hubs using that tag - and they can be used in rss feeds (if you're into those).
If you click one of your tags you get a page that displays all hubs using that tag.
e.g. http://hubpages.com/tag/free+computer+courses/hot
And notice at the end it says hot. You can change that to be latest.
Now, that might not seem exciting..... but try this:
http://hubpages.com/tag/free+computer+courses/hot?rss
Well bugg4h me.... if that isn't a nifty rss feed.
And you can then submit that rss feed to relevant rss directories.
"But wait!" I hear you cry .... I'd be promoting somebody else's stuff and not just mine.
"Ah .... I see ... greedy, eh" I reply. Well try this:
Just your hubs, that use a specific tag, as an rss feed:
http://hubpages.com/author/earner/free+courses/hot?rss
Now you just have to muster the effort to submit them .... er, which I never get round to
with tag pages now being noindex .. HP's tags are now mostly useless
When I first publish a hub there are only two keywords. One was left for a month this way. I just forgot to check it. I do use some of the tags hub pages recommend and also write my own. I search my content to see what words appear the most in my hubs and how those words relate to the subject. If they are important I add them.
I also look at the title tuner and might add words from there if they are relevant. These are keywords because they are what was searched to find your hub. I might also edit my hub and add these words to my work if they somehow fit, then add them to the list.
I have also removed words to add new ones. For someone who knew nothing of backlinking, linking or SEO at all I have come a long way in five months.
For me if something doesn't work I will go change it and if it does work I will try to copy what it was that did work. That is how we all learn.
by Liz Elias 13 years ago
While keywords, as part of your article are indeed important to the SEO "thing," and, as part of your article, they should be spelled properly and in the correct grammatical format, the tags you add outside the article are also valuable.I am beginning to suspect, however, that when...
by ryankett 15 years ago
And indeed my hub rating, after doing something with my hubs.It may seem like stating the obvious, but I went through all of hubs and put the absolute maximum number of tags that I could before it said "you have too many tags" or whatever it says. When it said that I had too many tags I...
by anglfire693 15 years ago
Ok, I did look at the FAQ's before coming here, and I found a hub on tags and read it. But it seemed to contradict another article I read. I also read through the comments and noticed that another hubber posted my question 4 months ago and has yet to get a reply so I am going to ask...
by Edweirdo 15 years ago
I'm pretty new at this, so I can really only gauge my hubs' performance against one another!This one is one of my earliest hubs, yet it has fewer views than ones that I've published just a few days ago.http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Choose-T … k-CookwareGranted, it's only been 3 weeks, but...
by ryankett 15 years ago
Do 'tags' on hubpages have any affect on search engine listings whatsoever? Can I be found on google on the basis of my tags? The information I am getting is conflicting. Hubpages say this:-"Outside of HubPages, Tags also coincide with terms that are searched for by people using search...
by H Lax 12 years ago
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