SEO – What You Should Know

by | May 22, 2012 | Blog, News & Notices, WordPress

Search Engine Optimization & Website Marketing

Using the Meta Description Tag

The Meta Description Tag –  An Overview

  • Use the meta description tag on all pages
  • Limit it to 150 characters
  • Include keywords
  • Don’t repeat keywords more than 7 times

Using the Meta Description Tag

What is the meta description tag and why should I use it? The meta description tag describes your site’s content, giving search engines’ spiders an accurate summary filled with multiple keywords.

Note: Meta tags are hidden in a document’s source, invisible to the reader. Some search engines, however, are able to incorporate the content of meta tags into their algorithms. No engines penalize sites that use meta tags properly, so it’s recommended that you always include them.

The meta description tag is especially important because it’s the only tag supported by some engines.

Here’s an example of a meta description tag:

<html> <head> <meta name=”description” content=”Your site’s summary here”> </head> </html>

The meta description tag and search engines A meta description tag can boost your rankings on some engines.

Another reason the meta description tag is important is that some engines use it as a site’s summary on their results pages. If they do, the reader may actually see this hidden tag. Make sure its contents are enticing to the reader.

Keywords in the meta description tag The meta description tag should contain multiple keywords organized in a logical sentence. Place the keywords at the beginning of your description and close to each other to achieve the best possible rankings.

The length of the meta description tag Search engines vary in their preferred size for meta tags. Try to use the smaller number, 150 characters, for your site. Never make your meta tag more than 250 characters long because some results pages will cut it off.

Avoid Spam Avoid repeating keywords more than 3-7 times in your meta description. Some search engines consider it to be spam.

Meta Description Tag & Search Engines

A meta description tag can boost your rankings on some engines.

Another reason the meta description tag is important is that some engines use it as a site’s summary on their results pages. If they do, the reader may actually see this hidden tag. Make sure its contents are enticing to the reader.

Using the Meta Keyword Tag

Meta Keyword Tag

What is a meta keyword tag and why should I use it?  A meta keyword tag lists all the keywords for which you would like search engines to rank your site. Although not all search engines support this tag, you should use it for the ones that do.

Note: Meta tags are hidden in a document’s source, invisible to the reader. Some search engines, however, are able to incorporate the content of meta tags into their algorithms. No engines penalize sites that use meta tags properly, so it’s recommended that you always include them.

Here’s an example of a meta keyword tag:

<html> <head> <meta name=”keywords” content=”Your site’s keywords here”> </head> </html>

Keywords in the meta keyword tag This is what the tag is all about! You don’t have to come up with any sentences; just list your keywords in order of importance. Include all your most important keywords. It’s recommended that you repeat the same keyword 3-7 times, but not in a row.

The length of the meta keyword tag Search engines vary in their size preferences for meta keyword tags. MSN, for example, will accept a meta keyword tag up to 1024 characters long, while HotBot specifies 75 characters as its guideline.

Hotbot’s guideline is unusual, however. Typically the meta keyword tag is pretty large. We checked out some of Hotbot’s top-ranking pages in various categories and found that many of them used meta keyword tags much larger than 75 characters. Therefore, use 1024 characters as your guideline.

Avoid Spam Avoid repeating keywords more than 3-7 times; you can get penalized for that. Up to 3 repetitions are recommended — just don’t place them one after the other.

Spamming (as related to search engines) is forcing unsolicited or unwanted web pages into a search engine’s database.

People that have learned how spiders work, also learned how to fool them. Although your site may be of high-quality content, if you use any of behaviors defined as spamming, it can be blacklisted.

For directories, spamming usually means choosing an inappropriate category, capitalizing all letters, or using marketing language.

For search engines, definition of spamming varies. The following list includes behaviors defined as spamming by the top six engines: inappropriate site titles, descriptions and keywords; repetition of keywords, same color text and background (invisible text), tiny text, submitting more than once in a 24 hour period, mirror sites that point to different URLs, and meta refresh tags.

Spam Defined

Spamming (as related to search engines) is forcing unsolicited or unwanted web pages into a search engine’s database.

People that have learned how spiders work, also learned how to fool them. Although your site may be of high-quality content, if you use any of behaviors defined as spamming, it can be blacklisted.

For directories, spamming usually means choosing an inappropriate category, capitalizing all letters, or using marketing language.

For search engines, definition of spamming varies. The following list includes behaviors defined as spamming by the top six engines: inappropriate site titles, descriptions and keywords; repetition of keywords, same color text and background (invisible text), tiny text, submitting more than once in a 24 hour period, mirror sites that point to different URLs, and meta refresh tags.