Using Meta Tags Wisely to Attract Search Engines and Visitors

There are certain tricks and techniques in SEO industry, which can fetch you real quick and top ranking in short run and get banned for ever, which I am discussing in this article. Before optimizing any site, always follow code of ethics and never spam.

In this article, I will be discussing about meta tags. How to use the them effectively without spamming. Its not just another article about meta tags. Read on to find out more..

Meta Tags are very important for your website's visibility. Many search engines read them from your site when you submit it to them.

META tags were developed and made a HTML standard for the purpose of addressing specific information about your web page that does not affect the way your page actually looks.

1. Overstuffing Metatags : Believe me or not , there are still many people and web masters around who think that meta tags are magic bullet. Its not anymore.

Mistake No. 1: Stuffing keywords in Title


Mistake No. 2: Stuffing keywords in Description


Mistake No. 3: The keyword tag.

Mistake No. 1 : Stuffing keywords in Title

I agree that its very important to include your main keywords in title tag. But there are certain things, which you should remember, as title tag is the most important tag.

  • Title tag length should be within 70 characters or 8 words

  • Title tag should be meaning full and attract visitors

  • Use one to two keywords in title tag

  • Use plurals & concentrate on keyword phrases rather than just keyword.

  • Make sure that title tag is grammatically correct

Syntax of Title Tag :

Your site title goes here

Now, lets me show you live demo on Title tag. Please search for "Office furniture uk" in Google, without double quotes. See the results. This is the first site listed under Google.

Office Furniture Home UK, Home Office Furniture London, Home ...


Office Furniture UK Online Home Office and Small Office Shopping England,

London, UK. Furniture, Office, Seat, Seating, Desk, Desks ...


Description: Uses full screen flash with exit button. Offering bespoke office furniture solutions for businesses....

Welcome to furniture123 - Bedroom furniture, Office furniture, ...


.. desk uk, child bed, home office furniture, child furniture, dining furniture, coffee table, office chair, furniture retailer, upholstery uk, bathroom furniture ...

Welcome to - Blueline Furniture - Ergonomic furniture, Custom ...


.. has pioneered the manufacture of office furniture using timber ... FIRA GOLD Quality Award as its furniture hire, minimum ... dealer network across the UK and Channel ...

MFI.co.uk


UK's leading furniture retailer offering an extensive range of quality furniture, including home office furniture, bedroom furniture, dining furniture, beds ...

These are the above first 4 results arrived for the term "Office furniture UK" in google. Now have a look over title and description. The first title does not make any sense and its stuffed with keywords, though its ranking no.1 it would have less click thorough as compared to no 2 and no 3.

A fair and attractive title would be something like :

Offers quality office furniture at discount price in UK ( Short title )

UK's leading furniture retailer offering office furniture at discount ( Perfect one )

Look at the above two titles. It conveys some message with a perfect sense. The best possible keywords have been used and its catchy too. Just by crafting a good title you can increase your click through, even though you are not listed in top 1 or 2 positions. I hope now you must have got some idea about crafting good title. Now lets jump to next step. Yeah. Description Tag.

Description Tag :

Description tag is still important as most of the search engines still give importance to it. Sometimes even google picks up description tag. An ideal description should be somewhere within 150 to 200 characters, which correctly describes the content of the page. Make sure to place 2 to 3 important keyword phrases within first 100 characters.

Tip 1 : Make sure that description tag comes immediately after title tag.

Tip 2. Make sure that the first paragraph or the heading of the page contains 2 to 3 important keyword phrase.

Tip 3. If possible you the targeted keyword phrase in text links to get boost.

Things to avoid :

  • Do not stuff the description tag with keywords.

  • Do not use generic keywords, use keyword phrases

  • Do not repeat the title in description

    Keyword Tag :

    The keyword tag is almost dead. Most of the web masters try to flood the key word tag with all sorts of keywords. Hardly couple of search engines gives a bit of importance to it.

    Please note that, directories like Yahoo, Dmoz & About does not consider keyword tag or meta tags. I do not recommend using keyword tag. If you use the keyword tag, do not include more than 8 keyword phrases.

    Do's

  • Include only important long keyword phrases.

  • Don't use generic / general terms. Be specific

  • Use Word tracker to find good keyword phrases

    Don'ts

  • Do not spam by stuffing all the possible keywords.

  • Do not include the keywords, which are not related to your website

  • Do not repeat any tag ( title, description, keyword tag ) you might get boost by repeating, but never know when you will be banned.

    Other important things to remember :

  • Meta tags ( Title & Description ) should reflect the content the page. Do not put your company name in title.

  • Do not try to target more than 2 to 3 keyword phrases per page

  • Try to include your important keyword phrases in h1 to h6 tag.

  • Include your important keyword phrases in tag, bold tag.

  • You will get boost if you include your important keyword phrases in anchor tag.

  • Do not forget to Include your important keyword phrases in first paragraph of your web page.

  • Try to put your important keyword phrases in alt text. ( for images )

  • Make sure that title and description is crafted neatly and attracts both visitors and search engines.

    Robots (Recommended)

    See the workshop report at W3 for the full text.

    default = empty = "ALL"

    "NONE" = "NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW"

    The filler is a comma separated list of terms:

    ALL, NONE, INDEX, NOINDEX, FOLLOW, NOFOLLOW.

    Discussion: This tag is meant to provide users who cannot control the robots.txt file at their sites. It provides a last chance to keep their content out of search services. It was decided not to add syntax to allow robot specific permissions within the meta-tag.

    INDEX means that robots are welcome to include this page in search services.

    FOLLOW means that robots are welcome to follow links from this page to find other pages.

    So a value of "NOINDEX" allows the subsidiary links to be explored, even though the page is not indexed. A value of "NOFOLLOW" allows the page to be indexed, but no links from the page are explored (this may be useful if the page is a free entry point into pay-per-view content, for example. A value of "NONE" tells the robot to ignore the page.

    Conclusion

    There are other meta tags like, Author, language, Copyright, Re-visit, classification etc. which are ignored by most of the search engines. Experience says, use the three tags wisely ( title, description & keywords ). You will be attracting both visitors and search engines. You can also use our free meta tag generator at http://www.website-promotion-ranking-services.com/meta_tag_generator.htm

    F or more information or any comments / suggestion on this article please EMail me. I will be glad to clarify the doubts / queries with live examples.

    About The Author

    Author: Rajesh V. Tavakari is SEO Specialist of Website Promotion & Ranking Services, an Internet Marketing firm specializing in

    Website promotion & Website optimization.

    URL: http://www.website-promotion-ranking-services.com

    rajesh@website-promotion-ranking-service s.com

    You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.

    In The News:

    • pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website - Step 3: Site Structure

    Welcome to part three in this search engine positioning series.... Read More

    Google Rank Cake

    6 cups thick content mix 1 jar word of mouth,... Read More

    Search Engine Ranking - What Works Now

    The methods employed to increase your search engine rankings may... Read More

    Google?s Siren Call ? Is It Crashing Your Search Engine Marketing?

    It's difficult to dispute the rational behind the rant since... Read More

    How to Get Non-stop Free Traffic to Your Website

    Yet the simple truth is that without traffic a website... Read More

    Gaining Link Popularity Techniques

    Link popularity is very important these days for all websites... Read More

    Absolute Top Five Search Engine Marketing Myths Uncovered!

    It's no secret that Search Engine marketing can drive significant... Read More

    Top 10 Little Used SEO Strategies

    There are millions of web sites trying to get listed... Read More

    Search Engine Optimization: Get the Low-down

    Been hearing the words Search Engine Optimization lately? I know... Read More

    SEO Expert Guide - Paid Site Promotion (Marketing) (part 7/10)

    In parts 1 - 6 you learnt how to develop... Read More

    Owning Your Category Online - Is Our Website Broken?

    "Owning your business category online is more than just a... Read More

    Google Gunning For Directories?

    Why is it that webmasters are so quick to blame... Read More

    Search Engine Optimization Lies & Misconceptions

    In a perfect world, everyone would be honest.In a perfect... Read More

    Why Is SEO So Important To Your Site?

    You have heard the phrase LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. But wait,... Read More

    SEO Blues

    SEO, not again!, you may groan. The webmaster world is... Read More

    SEO Expert Guide - Ongoing Monitoring of Results (part 9/10)

    In the Guide, you have, so far, learnt how to... Read More

    Are Search Engines Worth It Any More?

    The "Number One" Question - the question that I (and... Read More

    Google Patent Application - SEO Highlights

    The recent patent application filed by Google details numerous items... Read More

    Search Engines: Different Types, Different Strategies

    There are four basic types of Search Engines: Free Search... Read More

    1 Simple SEO Strategy To Get More Visitors To Your Site From Google

    Did you know that you can dramatically increase the number... Read More

    The Smart Way To Get Listed On Google!

    So you want to get listed on Google? And you... Read More

    Site-Digest 7 Simple Steps To Place Your Site Map On Steroids

    The Site Map is a too often overlooked piece of... Read More

    Search Engine Saturation Tool ? A Must Have SEO Tool

    Search Engines have become the soul of the Internet. They... Read More

    The Latest Craze: Local Search, 7 Steps to Being #1 in Your Local Market

    Anyone would agree that it is much easier to be... Read More

    The 7 Best Stealth Techniques to Improve Your Google Rankings

    Stealth as in Spying. But Knowing What your Top Competitors... Read More

    Are You Getting Nuked By Google Lately?

    Since the last Google update, there have been many instances... Read More

    Creating a Google SiteMap For Your Work At Home Business Web Page

    Search engine traffic is the best traffic You can get... Read More

    Get Traffic You Need - Make Your Links Work

    So you have built a nice web site with good... Read More

    Without Conversion Rates You Don’t Know If You’re Mickey Mouse Or Mickey Mantle

    I couldn’t agree more with the headline of this article... Read More

    Search Engine Metrics: Organic Search vs. Paid Placement

    Let me preface this report by citing advertisers in 2004... Read More

    Tools of the Trade, the SEO Must Have Utilities

    Search Engine traffic accounts for nearly 80% of the Internet... Read More

    Googles New SEO Rules

    Google has recently made some pretty significant changes in its... Read More

    All About Links -- Interview With Link Building Expert , Bob Gladstein

    Julia: Welcome Bob. Thank you for taking the time to... Read More