Magic with Meta Tags and Search Engine Optimization

From Jennifer Kyrnin

Using Meta To Improve Search Rankings

First of all, don't let me mislead you, meta tags are not the "magic bullet" that will skyrocket your site to the top of all search page listings. They are a tool that will help improve your standings in search engines that use them. Use them with other marketing strategies to garner more page views.

Another thing to remember: most search engines look at the body of text on your pages, as well as the page title. They take this information as higher relevance than any meta tags. So, be sure to always have a relevant TITLE on your pages, and relevant content in the body of the page. This will improve your rankings more than just meta tags alone.

What is a Meta Tag?

A meta tag is a hidden tag that lives in the HEAD of an HTML document. It is used to supply additional information about the HTML document.

How to Use a Meta Tag

Meta tags are included in the of an HTML document. If you are using meta tags to improve your standing in search engines, then you should focus on your description and keywords.

The description tag

Use the description tag to describe what your page is about. Engines that use it will supply the content of this tag when displaying a list of links. For example, if you do a search on About.com, you will see the description listed on the search results page.

The keywords tag

Keywords help search engines to categorize your site, and to allow people to find your pages more quickly. However, most search engines have limits as to how many meta keywords are viewed. It is a good idea to review your keywords and make sure that they are as concise and specific as possible.