When optimizing Web pages for the search engines, there are a few meta tags that you can use that might help your relevancy.
However, keep these important facts in mind:
- Meta tags won't get you a top ranking in the search engine. They might help boost relevancy with a few of the engines, but they are definitely not the "end all" when determining ranking.
- Not all of the engines consider the content of meta tags when determining relevancy. In fact, most of them don't.
- Meta tags always go in the <head></head> section of your Web page.
- Get rid of irrelevant meta tags. They can only "confuse" the engines and create ranking problems for you.
Meta Tags That
You Can Use on Your Pages
Keywords in the <meta name="description"> tag
Example:
<meta name="description" content="Educational children's software makes learning just plain fun!">
Keywords in the <meta name="keyword"> tag
Example:
<meta name="keywords" content="educational children's software, educational software, childrens software, EDUCATIONAL CHILDREN'S SOFTWARE">
Few of the major search engines consider the content of keyword meta tags any more, so the importance of this tag has diminished considerably. In most cases, you're better off not using it at all.
Keywords in the <meta http-equiv="keywords"> tag
Example:
<meta http-equiv="keywords" name="keywords" CONTENT="educational childrens software">
A few of the engines, including AltaVista, consider the content of http-equiv keyword meta tags for relevancy. GO/InfoSeek does not.
Keywords in meta Author Tag
Example:
<meta name="author" content="insert keyword phrase here">
Try this tag with HotBot and other Inktomi engines.
Meta <noindex> Tag
Example:
<meta NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX">
Use this tag if you don't want the engine to index the page. However, many of the major engines don't support the <noindex> meta tag, so you're better off using a robots.txt file.
Meta <revisit> Tag
Example:
<meta content="15 days" name="revisit-after">
Will the engines really look at this meta tag and revisit your page in 15 days? No! The engines operate on their timetable, not yours.
However, many positioners swear by the success of this meta tag, so you may want to give it a try. It certainly can't hurt.
For more information about meta tags, take an online training course through the Academy of Web Specialists. Our training courses will teach you how to work toward achieving top rankings in the search engines in order to maximize traffic to your site.
Also, visit:
Search Engine Watch's meta tag page:
The Dictionary of HTML meta tags:
Back to Basics: meta tags:
This meta tag article was written by Robin Nobles, Director of Training at the Academy of Web SpecialistsTM. Over the past few years, she has trained over 1000 people in her online and onsite courses in search engine positioning strategies. Visit this website to learn more: http://www.onlinewebtraining.com
