Answers to some of the thousands of questions asked by marketing executives who attended the AMA's first free Web seminar, "Why Can't My CEO Find Our Website??"
Though meta keywords tag and meta description tags are not the main factor search engines consider when ranking sites, they should not be left off the page. A meta description tag is supposed to be a brief and concise summary of your page's content. A meta keyword tag is supposed to be a summary list of the most important words on your page. They were both proposed in order to make using the web easier. Unfortunately, webmasters over the years have abused meta tags so much that search engine creators have had to de-emphasize their importance in their algorithms.
When you write a meta description tag, you should limit it to 170 characters. You should pick a style and be consistent throughout your pages. LookSmart offers a detailed guide to writing descriptions through their volunteer directory, Zeal. Click here and learn about the LookSmart description style. The Open Directory (DMOZ) also offers a detailed guide to writing descriptions. Click here to learn about the DMOZ style. The key is that you want your description to adhere to W3C standards and be relevant to the content of the page. Again, it is intended to provide a brief summary of the contents of the page.
When you write your meta keywords tag, only include words which appear in the text of your page. As stated above, the keywords tag is meant to provide a short list of the most relevant keywords for each document or page. If you can't narrow your keyword list down to 10-15 words, then the content on your page is probably rambling to far to win on your key search phrases. If you page is a list of exercise or fitness tips, and on the page you list tips for things to do before, during, and after a workout, then you need to think to yourself, "what 10 or 15 words is this page MOST about?" Just because your page mentions dieting (or spinning, or arthritis) in the text doesn't mean that the page is about dieting (or spinning, or arthritis). If you want to win for dieting (or spinning, or arthritis), then create a page about dieting (or spinning, or arthritis).
To learn more about meta tags in general, visit What are meta tags? To learn more about the meta description tag, visit What are meta descriptions? To learn more about the meta keywords tag, visit What are meta keywords?
Use our free Meta Tag Generator to build meta tags for your site. If you've already created your meta tags, use our free Meta Tag Grabber to check them.
