How to Use Meta Tags

Use of Meta Tags and What They Mean When It Comes to SEO

Despite the fact that the use of meta tags does not play a major role as a factor for search engines to consider when ranking sites, nevertheless, these tags should not be neglected when creating a webpage. A meta tag can be described as an HTML code that is a very brief and clearly concise summary of your webpage’s content. It can also be spoken of as a summary list of the most significant and central words that appear on a particular webpage of your site. A meta tag commonly looks like this:

[quote]<meta content=”keywords,keyword,keyword phrase,etc.”>[/quote]

Devised long ago with the purpose of making the web easier to use for everybody, the use of meta tags has almost always been popular. It is therefore most unfortunate that a time came when webmasters abused the use and proliferation of meta tags, to the extent that all major search engine creators decided to de-emphasize the importance of meta tags in the algorithms that they used for their search engines.

Meta tags in relation to SEO serve as helpers in making webpages win on search engines and come in various kinds. The following are just a few of the most used and better known types of meta tags.

The Meta Title Tag. This particular metal title tag’s main purpose is to declare the title of the webpage. Its format usually looks something like this:

[quote]<META NAME=”Title” CONTENT=”Page Title Here”>[/quote]

In SEO, it is suggested that this kind of tag be used with caution. Based on studies that were made, MSN and Yahoo! do index the meta title tag. However, its impact on the algorithm is vague and shows up as having inconsistent test results.

The best use of the Title Tag for SEO purposes would be to Ensure that it is keyword rich, contains no more than 3 of your targeted keywords per page. Google is particularly receptive to the use of Keywords in your Title Tag which could give you the edge when competing on SERP (Search Engine Results Pages).

The Meta Description Tag. Its task is to concisely describe the contents of the document in 20-25 words or less using plain language. In SEO, search engines supportive of this type of tag publish this short description on their search results page and generally appears in this format:

[quote]<META CONTENT=”Citrus fruit wholesaler.”>[/quote]

It is highly recommended that the meta description tag be always present in your pages since it could spell the difference between better ranking in the results pages and being left out of them.

The Meta Keywords Tag. Its main purpose is to serve as a list of keywords that identify or classify your website’s content. Search engines use it to properly index your website in terms of SEO. It takes on a form such as this:

[quote]<META CONTENT=”boats, ships, yachts”>[/quote]

The Meta Author Tag. As its name suggests, this tag displays the name of the author of the document. It gives a reference to the name of the individual who came up with the HTML/XML document being read. A meta author tag can look like this:

[quote]<META CONTENT=”Jasmin Proteas, jproteas@blossom.com”>[/quote]

Although not indexed by MSN, Yahoo!, or Google, in SEO it is acknowledged as a component of the “Meta Tag Standard.”

The Meta Robots Tag. It controls the robots that search engines send on a per-page basis. Use it to influence robots to navigate the webpage, but not index that particular page. Follow this format when making a meta robots tag:

[quote]<META CONTENT=”NOINDEX,FOLLOW”>[/quote]

Use of meta tags gives your webpages added visibility when search engines go looking for relevant content. Make use of them wisely and they will help make your website more visible in the vastness of the worldwide web. Meta tag usage and tweaking will give you the edge in competing for SERP and will definitely pay off when everything else is equal.

If you have any trouble implementing the correct usage of meta tags on your website, contact an SEO Consultant or SEO Services to assist you in that.