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THE
CURRENT VERSION IS SEY 2003
Meta Tags: 2003
Overview
NOTE:
For an updated discussion on Meta Tags, please refer to the current
version of the Search Engine Yearbook.
What
Meta Tags Are
Meta tags were designed to provide additional info
about a page. Amongst other things, they tell the search engine what
your page is about, helping it to index your page more accurately. Or
at least – that was the original idea…
Updated
Thinking On Meta Tags
The whole thing got perverted when dishonest webmasters
started using meta tags to gain an unfair advantage. Gradually search
engines started assigning less importance to them. It’s now reached
the point where many search engine experts are saying we should leave
them out completely. All major search engines now ignore them.
Well, that’s not quite true…
At the time of writing (Dec. 2002), Inktomi still
takes them into account. And if you’re promoting your site on smaller
or country-specific search engines meta tags still give you a noticeable
edge. Some even tell you to use meta tags right on their submission
pages. Meta tags are also good for site searching.
Apart from that, I agree. They’re a waste
of time.
How
To Do Meta Tags Right
Meta tags go in the <HEAD> </HEAD>
segment of your HTML document. Just like the title tag, scripts and
other information that go in the head section, meta tags are not displayed
on the page itself. The two meta tags that we're interested in are the
"Description" and "Keywords" tags.
Here's the syntax:
<META NAME="Description" CONTENT="Enter
your site description here -
about 150 characters. Remember this has to contain keywords but also
get a
human to click.">
<META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="ENTER
YOUR KEYWORDS HERE">
Some search engines use the content of the description
tag as the site description in their search results lists. They also
look in the description for keyword matches. The keywords tag tells
the search engine what keywords are important for that page. The original
idea with the keywords tag was to provide a list of alternative keywords
- synonyms - to the keywords used in the body of the page. So much for
that.
Meta
Tag Don’ts
Your page will be penalized if a search engine
feels that you're using your meta tags to gain an unfair advantage.
1. Don't load your description with only keywords.
A keyword-loaded description is grounds for exclusion from a search
engine's database. Even if you get away with it, some engines use that
description in its search results under your site's title. The true
function of the description is to invite a click. It has to grab the
attention of a human reader and convince her to click through to your
site. Make your site description keyword-rich, but focus on the human
reader.
2. Don't repeat keywords. You can safely repeat
a word 3 times. Some people say it's 5 times. Maybe they're right. I'll
stick to 3.
The
Meta Tags Bottom Line
Meta tags matter, but not a whole lot. Use them
honestly. Put a descriptive description in your description tag and
relevant keywords in your keywords tag. There's just no point in making
"sex" one of your keywords if you're selling software - unless
you've got a strip poker game to sell. Make sure you target people who
have the potential of turning into customers.
Anyone else just wastes your bandwidth.
Meta
Tag Tools
Deadlock Design's Tagmaster (Recommended)
You get 10 free uses. To continue using it after that, you're required
to pay 20 bucks. It's worth it, because this tool does a lot of the
work for you - fast - and it does a lot more than just your keyword
and description tags. It can even suggest keywords from a built-in list
of 100 000 keywords!
http://deadlock.com/promote/software/tagmaster/
ABS Meta Tag Analyzer
A great meta tag tool. Here is a list of things it does:
1. General HTML Analysis
2. HTML Title Tag Analysis
3. META Tag Analysis
http://www.scrubtheweb.com/abs/meta-check.html
Promotion World's Meta Tag Generator
You still have to come up with the description & keywords, but at
least this tool will make sure that you get the syntax right.
http://www.promotionworld.com/tools/meta.html
Meta Medic
Description from the site:
"How many times have you submitted a site to the search engines,
only to learn, weeks later, that you messed up with a tag somewhere?
Search Engine friendly web design isn't rocket science, but you do need
to pay attention to detail. And now that just became easier."
http://www.northernwebs.com/set/setsimjr.html
Further
reading on Meta Tags
How To Use HTML Meta Tags
By Danny Sullivan
Danny Sullivan provides a somewhat outdated but very detailed explanation
of how they work and how to use them.
http://searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/meta.html
Meta tags - what, where, when, why?
Useful introduction to meta tags. It covers a couple of points not often
mentioned in similar tutorials.
http://www.philb.com/metatag.htm
10 Questions About Meta Data
By Amy Cohen
A very comprehensive discussion of meta tags.
http://builder.cnet.com/webbuilding/pages/Authoring/Metadata/
A Dictionary of HTML META Tags (Recommended)
Probably the ugliest site on the Net, but the information is very valuable.
http://vancouver-webpages.com/META/
Meta Tag Lawsuits
By Danny Sullivan
Is it illegal to use trademarked terms in your meta tags? Not necessarily.
Can you get sued? Yes, and people have.
http://searchenginewatch.com/resources/metasuits.html
Meta Tags: 2002
Overview
NOTE:
For an updated discussion on Meta Tags, please refer to the current
version of the Search Engine Yearbook.
What
meta tags are
Meta tags are tags especially for the search engines.
Meta tags tell the engine what your page is about, helping it to index
your page more accurately - if the engine looks at your meta tags that
is. Some engines ignore them completely. More about that a bit later.
Meta tags go in the <HEAD> </HEAD>
segment of your HTML document. Just like the title tag, scripts and
other information in the head section, they are not displayed on the
site itself.
The two meta tags that we're interested in are
the "Description" and "Keywords" tags.
Here's the syntax:
<META NAME="Description" CONTENT="Enter your site
description here - about 150 characters max.">
<META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="ENTER YOUR KEYWORDS
HERE">
Some search engines use the content of the description
meta tag as the site description in their search results lists. They
also look in the description for keyword matches. The keywords tag tells
the search engine what keywords are important for that page. The original
idea with the keywords tag was to provide a list of alternative keywords
- synonyms - to the keywords used in the body of the page. So much for
that.
Do meta tags matter?
In the wild wild web days, meta tags were terribly
important. They were *** the big secret ***.
Webmasters who knew about them and used them pulled
substantially more traffic. Then we got clever and started using them
to cheat - so the engines got smarter and gradually assigned less and
less importance to them.
Today, some webmasters leave them out completely.
The way I see it is that, if meta tags don't hurt
your ranking (which they don't), then there's no reason not to use them.
Nothing to loose (as long as you don't cheat).
Your page will be penalized if a search engine
feels that you're using your meta tags to gain an unfair advantage.
Here are two meta tag "tricks"
that don't work:
1. Don't load your description with only keywords.
A keyword-loaded description is grounds for exclusion
from a search engine's database. Even if you get away with it, some
engines use that description in its search results under your site's
title. The true function of the description is to invite a click. It
has to grab the attention of a human reader and convince her to click
through to your site. Make your site description keyword-rich, but focus
on the human reader.
2. Don't repeat keywords
You can safely repeat a word 3 times. Some people
say it's 5 times. Maybe they're right. I stick to 3 to be safe.
Using
keywords effectively
Don't use just one or two keywords and don't use
a gazillion either.
We're not absolutely sure, but our own experiments
suggest that some search engines penalize pages that use only one or
two words in the keyword meta tag, probably in an attempt to sniff out
gateway pages.
Besides, if you're only using one or two keywords,
you're probably missing out on traffic by focusing too narrowly. Listing
hundreds of keywords dilutes the keyword density, so you won't score
well for any of them. Aim for about twenty keywords.
The
bottom line
Meta tags matter, but not a whole lot. Use them
honestly. Put a descriptive description in your description tag and
relevant keywords in your keywords tag.
There's just no point in making "sex"
one of your keywords if you're selling software - unless you've got
a strip poker game to sell. Make sure you target people who have the
potential of turning into customers. Anyone else just wastes your bandwidth
 This
page is based on information contained in the Search Engine Yearbook 2003.
For more detailed search engine information & help, please refer to the
current version of the book.
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