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META TAGS ARE NOT A MAGIC SOLUTION
by: Linda Anderson
Meta tags are useful in getting better listings in the
search engines. However, not all search engines support
meta tags. This means that some search engines ignore
them. But include meta tags in your document for the engines
that do use them. It will significantly increase your rating.
There are many, many different meta tags. The only ones you
need to be concerned with are the "description" and "keyword"
tags. The description tag provides a summary which appears
when your page comes up on a search. Without this "description"
the search engine will create one. It will generally use the
first few lines of text at the top of your page. Search engines
that read everything on your page will include alt tags and
links to a banner that is at the very top of your page. This
is why it is not a good idea to have a banner at the top. The
beginning of your page should be a title (use keywords here)
and text. The first paragraph should be heavy with keywords,
but not so heavy as to make it difficult to read or understand.
You want to work the keywords in so it sounds natural for them
to be there.
If your site is heavy on graphics and short on text, then you
need to use meta tags. Otherwise, you have very little chance
to come up on the search engines. Consider the meta tags as
tools that make up for a lack of text on your site. Your best
option, however, is to have a site that is heavy in content
and text. You will not only get a better ranking in the search
engines, but you will please the people who visit your site.
After all,isn't this the name of the game?
"Keywords" tags provide keywords for the search engine to
associate with your page. It gives your page a chance to come
up if someone is searching for one or more of your keywords.
Choose your keywords carefully. Try to imagine what the
searcher will enter for their search. Do NOT use keywords
that are not relevent to your site. Many people think that
because "sex" is one of the most common keywords used for a
search, that it is good to include it in their keyword list.
This is just another form of spam. Don't do it. You could
get a lot of hate mail.
Key words should always be two or more words, in other words,
key phrases. If you only use single keywords you are likely
to get lost in the crowd. For example, if you have a site
that specializes in 'free business opportunities', list that
as a keyword phrase instead of listing each word ie: free,
business, opportunties. It is not likely that someone looking
for 'free business opportunities' is going to type in just
'business' into their search. Can you imagine all the sites
that would come up if that were the case? You would be lost
in the crowd. Be specific with your keyword phrases. Put
yourself in the place of the person doing the search. What
are they likely to type in as their search?
It is not enough to have a list of keywords in your meta
tags. These keywords must also appear in the title tag as
well as in the text on your page. If you fail to do this,
then your ranking with the search engines will be low, no
matter how may keywords you have. It is most important that
your keywords appear in the first paragraph on your page.
They should also be in the title and headers. Some search
engines also read 'alt tags'. Be sure to use relevant
keywords there also.
Some of the search engines don't like line breaks in meta
tags. It is best to have your meta tags as one long line
rather than having it wrap. I have been told that if your
tags wrap, the search engine only reads the first line.
You do not need a mile long string of keywords. The search
engine will not read all of them. The standard is 1024
characters. The spaces between your keywords also count
as a character. Don't use spaces. Use commas to separate
your keywords. Select your keywords very carefully,
and arrange them in order of importance.
There are no 'secrets' to search engine success. Meta tags
are not a magic solution to getting listed. Using meta
tags along with other methods, such as having a content
rich site, will dramatically boost your ranking in the
major search engines.
Linda Anderson is the webmaster at:
http://marketing-resources.com/
mailto:webmaster@marketing-resources.com
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