For a search engine, the meta tags of a page provide a snapshot of the page content and are useful not just in determining where your website ranks in search results but also in the click-through rate you get and how many people actually visit your website even after it ranks for a keyword.
Meta tag optimization has been among the oldest and most effective way to get a website to rank well. They have also been among the most abused. However, if you optimize your meta tags well, there is a good chance your website will rank for the most relevant content for any given page in your site.
Understanding Meta Tags
Title: This is seen by search engines as a one line summary of the page content. It is the first bolded line that appears in search results and should be about 60 characters long.
Meta Description: This is a slightly longer summary of the page content. This is usually the 2 lines of snippet that appears in search results. When a Meta Description tag is missing, search engines display snippets of the page content instead. This acts as the elevator pitch for the page and if written well, can improve the click-through rate and visitors to the page
Meta Keywords: These are optional but it doesn’t hurt to include the keywords that are most relevant to the page in this section. Do not repeat the same keywords list on all pages. Instead include terms that are most representative of the contents of a given page.
Meta Robots: The Meta Robots tag can be used to selectively manage which pages are crawled, indexed, archived, etc.
Canonical: This meta tag defines the preferred format of URL and the original version of any given page. This is an extremely potent meta tag and should be used extremely carefully. If used correctly it can channel SEO value from all formats of a URL to the preferred format, but if used wrongly, it can even result in pages in the site being removed from search engine index.
Order of Meta Tags
Although less important than the content of the meta tags themselves, it is best to organize the Meta tags in the above order. This order and sequence of Meta tags is as per W3C standards and search engines expect the Meta tags to be in the above order. If the order is changed, search engines have to do a little extra work to access them and so it is always best to follow the correct order of Meta tags.
Optimizing Meta Tags
While optimizing Meta tags may seem simple and intuitive, it is best to do them right for best result. For example, what you think is a keyword may not be searched by people as frequently as another term that you should consider. The three Meta tags that you should optimize are:
- Title
- Meta Description and
- Meta Keywords
Before you start writing these meta tags, it is best to first select keywords that are best suited for the page. For this, do the following:
- Make a list of terms that you think are directly relevant to the page content
- Enter these terms in a keyword research tool like the Google AdWords Keyword tool.
- The tool will provide a list of variations and will let you select the keywords that you would like to include in the page content and Meta tags.
Once you have the list of keywords you want each page in the site to rank for, you should start writing the Meta tags.
How to Write Meta Tags?
Many SEOs make the mistake of stuffing keyword indiscriminately in the Meta tags in an effort to make the page rank for the keywords. It is important to bear in mind that Meta tags are meant to meaningfully and effectively summarize the page content for search engines. Keeping this in mind, when you write Meta tags:
- Title: As far as possible, start with the most important keyword for the page and try to summarize the page in 60 characters or less.
- Meta Description: This should, in two lines, give a synopsis of the page and make a case for why someone should want to visit the page. Again, include keywords where meaningfully possible. Do not make this a list of keywords and do not repeat a keyword more than twice.
- Meta Keywords: Search engines no longer consider the meta Keywords tag while deciding where to feature a page in search results for a keyword. However, it doesn’t hurt to include a list of keywords, separated by a comma in the meta keywords tag. Make sure you do not include more than 7-8 of the most directly relevant keywords for the page.
SEO Services from Flying Cow Design
While Meta tag optimization is important for SEO, it is just one of the many activities that you should consistently and ethically keep doing for your site to rank better. Flying Cow Design is a leading web development and Internet Marketing Service Company that helps clients build a strong web presence through SEO compliant web development and SEO services. When you need professional and concerted SEO effort for your website, write to us!
CEO, Flying Cow Design
Attended University of Auckland
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