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Search Engine Optimization - Meta Tags
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Meta Tags META TAGS are undisplayed text written into the HTML code of your web page that help to describe your page to the search engine. They help the search engine to catalog the content and description of your page. By "undisplayed text", I mean that the text bracketed by the <META> tags is readable to the search engine computer, but not visible to the viewer of your website. Here is an example of a <META> tag description written into the HTML code: <META name="Description" content=" More than 40 ebooks, for Webmasters & Webmarketers, for only $23, with resell or give away rights, 100% Commission Yours for Life! You sell and KEEP 100% of the sale price!"> Some of the search engines "support" <META> tags; others do not. The trick is to make them useful for the search engines that support them while avoiding being "penalized" by the SE's that do not "support" them. Since at least three major Search Engines claim to (and do) "support" them, my view is that they should be included in your HTML document... however you MUST be careful how you use them. Infoseek, Alta Vista, and HotBot use <META> tags in retrieving their search results. Sometimes the search engine will use your <META> description as the "Summary" for your website. In these cases it is recommended that you write the description with the most relevant KEYWORDS toward the front of the description. Sometimes the description shown by the search engine will only support so many characters, and your description may be cut short. By using the KEYWORDS early in your sentence's), you will be sure to get them included in your summary. Remember, the more sense your title and summary make to a potential viewer of your site, the more likely they will want to visit... And hopefully buy, read, call or whatever it is you are trying to prompt them to do. We know of no search engine that will "penalize" you for using <META> tags as long as you use them properly. Admittedly, this can change at any time, however our current recommendation is that you should not use any word within a specific <META> tag more than SEVEN times... and in some cases, once is sufficient. Here is an example of where your <META> tags should be placed in your HTML document and an example of how they might look: (Notice that the word "Authentic" has been placed at the start of the title. It looks natural and should not run the chance of being penalized on a search engine that lists their search results alphabetically, like Yahoo.) <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Authentic Native American Bows, Arrows, Stone Knives, Lances and Tomahawks For The Primitive Hunter</TITLE> <META name="Description" content="Hand made, fully functional Bows and Arrows made in the traditions of the Native Americans. We also make Stone Knives, Lances, and Tomahawks."> <META name="Keywords" content="native american, indian, primitive, american indian, bows, arrows, stone knives, lances, tomahawks, hunting, weapons, native american, indian, primitive, american indian, bows, arrows, stone knives, lances, tomahawks, hunting, weapons, native american, indian, primitive, american indian, bows, arrows, stone knives, lances, tomahawks, hunting, weapons, native american, indian, primitive, american indian, bows, arrows, stone knives, lances, tomahawks, hunting, weapons, native american, indian, primitive, american indian, bows, arrows, stone knives, lances, tomahawks, hunting, weapons, native american, indian, primitive, american indian, bows, arrows, stone knives, lances, tomahawks, hunting, weapons, native american, indian, primitive, american indian, bows, arrows, stone knives, lances, tomahawks, hunting, weapons> </HEAD> <BGCOLOR="#F2DDB7" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#800000" VLINK="#7FGG7F" ALINK="#GGFFFFF"> Note: Some web editing programs, including "Microsoft FrontPage 97" will automatically place the <META> tag information ABOVE the <TITLE>. This can be disadvantageous on some of the search engines. You may want to try a different web page editor program in these instances. In this example, we phrased the <META> DESCRIPTION as a relatively normal sentence that describes the sites content. We used as many KEYWORDS as possible without sounding redundant. We did this because the <META> Description is used by some search engines as the summary for the web site. Again, remember; We want the summary to make as much sense as possible to a viewer. In a case where you have a large number of KEYWORDS you would like to include, be sure to limit your content to no more than 250 characters. This is because search engines seldom (if ever) display more that 250 characters as a summary... and sometimes they display fewer characters. Try to make this "description" as short as possible, without omitting any of your important KEYWORDS. It is better to have your description cut off in mid sentence than to miss some crucial KEYWORDS. The reason we offer the <META> tag "description" as a summary is because some Search engines will pull a random paragraph or HTML code from the <body> text as a summary if there is no <META> description. In some cases that means that the person who is "searching" could get a "nonsense" description of my page It might read something like the following: URL Link: Wilder Recreational Vehicles in Clinton, Missouri Summary: Image size 245 x 300 [Your ad link here] Download Netscape Navigator 3.0, Our pages do not support navigator 1.0 Now make a note of the difference between <META> DESCRIPTION tags and <META> KEYWORD tags. The "Description" is invisible text ONLY if the search engine determines NOT to use it as the "Summary" for your website. The "Keywords" are invisible text seen only by the search engines. Be careful to use each word only SEVEN times and alternate between capitalized and non-capitalized words in the rare case where the search engine happens to show a preference based upon how the person enters the "keyword" into the search engine. The number of times a keyword can repeat itself is set by the search engines... NOT US! So keep an eye your competitors sites, It could mean the difference between top placement and NO PLACEMENT!!! Installing <META> tags may not be enough to insure top positioning for your website and you may have to spend some time and effort to maintain your site afterwards; in fact... PLAN ON IT! The "Description" tags are very useful when the search engine uses it as a "summary" for your page. They give you some degree of control over how the search engine "presents" your link to the viewing public. Remember not to use non-relevant keywords or descriptions trying to "trick" the search engines. It is not only unethical, but your site may be penalized; or worse, not even listed at all. For now, you have the basic information on
how to use them effectively for the search engines that "support" <META>
tags. You have also learned how to reduce the chance of being penalized by
the search engines that do not support their use. Keep in mind that the
"rules" can change... Just one more reason to keep up on the monthly
changes in our news letter. |
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