Meta Tags - An Introduction

A long, long time ago? In a galaxy far, far away?meta tags were the key component to search engine rankings. Okay, it was about 2 years ago, but that's a long time in the Internet galaxy. Although still relevant, the evil empire?er, Darth Google, has led a movement by the search engines to de-emphasize their importance. Despite this effort, meta tags are still important. They represent the only method for a site owner to exert some control over how pages are listed in search engine results.

What The Heck Is A Meta Tag?

Meta tags are html code blocks that "tell" a search engine what a particular site page is about. Meta tags are not visible on the pages of your site. You can, however, see them for most sites by clicking the "view" and then "source" tab on the Explorer Browser.

Meta tags can be difficult to explain, so let's take a look at one of our client's sites.

BusinessTaxRecovery.com is listed in the number 1 position on Yahoo and MSN if you do a search for "business tax articles." The specific page is:

http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com/articles

The meta tags for this page are:

Business Tax Articles

The meta title is a critical factor in controlling where your site is listed in search engines. The title should consist of the keywords being emphasized on the page. In this case, we are trying to come up under searches for "business tax articles". Since the page actually lists such articles, the meta tag is simply "business tax articles".

Importantly, the meta title will be underlined in the search results. A search for business tax articles on Yahoo finds our client in the number 1 position. The link looks like this:

BUSINESS TAX ARTICLES [underlined]Business tax articles, IRS news and more. Turn overlooked deductions and credits into business tax refunds at businesstaxrecovery.com. ... BUSINESS TAX ARTICLES. Business tax articles are added every week, so make sure to bookmark this page ...www.businesstaxrecovery.com/articles.php

Meta Description Tag

The meta description tag appears under the title in the search engine results. Returning to our previous example, the meta description is the text that is not underlined. Essentially, meta descriptions expand on the meta title and give the search engine more keywords to consider.

One of the aggravating things about search engines is how they use meta descriptions. Most pick only certain sections of your description. When your link appears in the search results, the description may make little if any sense. Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do about it.

Meta Keywords

Historically, meta keywords were the single most important factor to getting your site ranked under the correct keywords. How times have changed. Google doesn't even look at them, while MSN and Yahoo give them little value. All and all, they are fairly unimportant, but you should still add them to your meta tags. If nothing else, it forces you to focus on the keywords you should have on the page.

In closing, every page of your site should have at least a meta title and description. Although their value has diminished, they are still an important factor in the search engine optimization process.

Halstatt Pires is with http://www.marketingtitan.com - an Internet marketing and advertising company comprised of a search engine optimization specialist providing meta tag optimization services and Internet marketing consultant providing internet marketing solutions through integrated design and programming services.

Web Design Company Launches Search Engine Marketing Service ThomasNet Industrial News Room (press release), NY - 23 hours ago Web design company based in London, http://www.kronikmedia.co.uk have introduced a new service for companies small or large in UK who are looking to improve ...

Web Design Agency in Nottingham Develops New eCommerce Pacakage PR Web (press release), WA - Nov 20, 2008 Nottingham, UK (PRWEB) November 20, 2008 -- WebCatch are a young, up and coming Web Design Company based in Nottingham UK. They are making an astounding ...

Law Firm Web Design Company Now Offers A Free 5 Day Course in ... PR Web (press release), WA - 17 hours ago The law firm web design company, Lawyer Web Templates, has been offering high quality web building services and templates for years. ...

Franchise Direct's Embedded Videos are Creating a Wealth of New ... PR Web (press release), WA - 5 hours ago For an example of the potential of video content for businesses, just take a look at this video podcast from web design franchise Get us Online by Vizzit ...

Web design firm's span reaches from Dnieper to Danbury Danbury News Times, CT - Nov 18, 2008 ... a city in western Ukraine near the country's border with Poland, got the idea to start the firm while working at another Web design outfit in Stamford. ...

Leverage Your Website as a Lifeboat for Surviving the Economic ... MarketWatch - 21 hours ago "Unlike other local web design companies that went out of business that year, OneWebHosting combined web-savvy, creativity and cost-efficient services to ...

Denver Interactive Agency Ranks Among The World’s Best in Web ... PR Web (press release), WA - Nov 17, 2008 ... and visual communications, as a winner in the Interactive Annual 14, the magazine’s annual competition for excellence and innovation in web design. ... Amalgamated Pixels Awarded 2008 Davey Award MarketWatch all 10 news articles

Klue	Also wanted: Web Design Ninja! Klue, Malaysia - Nov 19, 2008

HTML Fundamentals mediabistro.com, NY - Nov 20, 2008 David has taught Flash, HTML, and other web design-related topics at Parsons School of Design since early 2000. David is a masterful teacher. ...

OnWheelsInc.com Unveils New Web Design MarketWatch - Nov 6, 2008 DETROIT, Nov 06, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- OnWheelsInc.com, an automotive site for minority car buyers, enthusiasts and general web surfers alike, ...