Meta Tags; Are they Important?
As virtually all website owners know, although meta tags are not essential, most websites have a minimum of three; a title meta tag, a keyword meta tag, and a description meta tag.
As virtually all website owners know, although meta tags are not essential, most websites have a minimum of three; a title meta tag, a keyword meta tag, and a description meta tag.
The title tag (surprise!) contains the website title. The title in the meta tag may not be the same as the headline at the top of the site seen by its visitors. For example, the on-page site headline might be "Education for Working Adults", while the meta tag title might read, "Part Time, Online, and Distance Degree Programs". In fact, there is a logical reason why a website owner would want the two titles to be different.
The reason is that the function of the website headline is to describe the content of the page for visitors who are already looking at it. The title tag's function, is to help determine the way in which search engines categorize, index, and rank the site. Although a surprising number of website owners choose a title for use in their meta tag without much thought or research, they do so to their detriment.
If you believe otherwise, do a search for any term you wish. Then look at the title tags of the sites ranking in the top ten. Guess what you'll find there? Right, the term for which you searched.
The keyword meta tag is probably the least important of the three because the major search engines put no credence in its content. But it shouldn't be ignored because some less popular search engines and a lots of directories do consider it.
The description meta tag is, in some respects, the most important of the three tags, although it is not a factor in a site's search engine rankings. That is because, in some search engines and directories, the two or three sentences you put in the description tag are what a searcher will read before deciding to visit your site or scroll further to consider others. A good description meta tag should be written to "sell" your site.
Unfortunately, not everyone understands the importance of meta tags. In fact, I have seen several articles minimizing their importance. Don't be fooled by them. Content may be king, but meta tags are extremely important in determining the success or failure of most websites.
As virtually all website owners know, although meta tags are not essential, most websites have a minimum of three; a title meta tag, a keyword meta tag, and a description meta tag.
The title tag (surprise!) contains the website title. The title in the meta tag may not be the same as the headline at the top of the site seen by its visitors. For example, the on-page site headline might be "Education for Working Adults", while the meta tag title might read, "Part Time, Online, and Distance Degree Programs". In fact, there is a logical reason why a website owner would want the two titles to be different.
The reason is that the function of the website headline is to describe the content of the page for visitors who are already looking at it. The title tag's function, is to help determine the way in which search engines categorize, index, and rank the site. Although a surprising number of website owners choose a title for use in their meta tag without much thought or research, they do so to their detriment.
If you believe otherwise, do a search for any term you wish. Then look at the title tags of the sites ranking in the top ten. Guess what you'll find there? Right, the term for which you searched.
The keyword meta tag is probably the least important of the three because the major search engines put no credence in its content. But it shouldn't be ignored because some less popular search engines and a lots of directories do consider it.
The description meta tag is, in some respects, the most important of the three tags, although it is not a factor in a site's search engine rankings. That is because, in some search engines and directories, the two or three sentences you put in the description tag are what a searcher will read before deciding to visit your site or scroll further to consider others. A good description meta tag should be written to "sell" your site.
Unfortunately, not everyone understands the importance of meta tags. In fact, I have seen several articles minimizing their importance. Don't be fooled by them. Content may be king, but meta tags are extremely important in determining the success or failure of most websites.
Robots,robotics,humanoids:
Andrea Morgan is a small business owner and graduate student whose interests include online colleges, adult education, and financial aid for online college students.