How to Use Meta Tags for Search Engine Optimization
Copyright 2002 Herman Drost
Statistics show that only one of every four Web Sites have Meta tags. However
using these tags can give your site an advantage over other sites that do not.
Meta tags enable most visitors to initially find your site from the search
engines.
What are Meta Tags? These are HTML tags that provide information that describes
the content of the web pages that the visitor will be viewing. Web Site owners
use this resource to control their positioning and descriptions in the search
engines. Most search engines incorporate reading meta tags as part of their
indexing formula.
Where to Place Meta Tags They should go in between the and tags in your html
page.
Types of Meta Tags The Doctype tag The DTD (Document Type Definition) tag
precedes the opening tag. It is generally the first element to be used on any
page. It distinguishes the version of HTML in use from other versions of HTML
and tells the browser what tags to expect when laying out the page.
{!doctype html public "-//wc3//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">}
If a browser doesn't understand a tag, it just ignores it. This, in effect,
renders useless. For the proponents of strict standardization, a statement like
would ensure standardization. If a browser didn't recognize the statement, it
could ignore the page. META Tags and Document Identification The syntax for the
tag is: Subscribe FREE to Marketing Tips Newsletter
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{meta name=”namevalue” content=”contentvalue”} or {meta
http-equiv=”namevalue” content=”contentvalue”}
The tag requires the CONTENT attribute and adds either the NAME or HTTP-EQUIV
attribute. These define the general information you are creating or changing in
the document, and the CONTENT attribute defines the value of the general
information.
HTTP-EQUIV Attribute {META HTTP-EQUIV} tags are equivalent to HTTP headers. To
understand headers, you must understand the process that occurs when you use a
Web browser to request a document from a Web server. You request information
using your browser and the Web Server receives your request via HTTP, the
standard Web protocol. When the server finds the page you requested, it
generates an HTTP response. The initial data in that response is called the HTTP
header block. This header gives the Web browser information useful for
displaying the page.
Common Examples of the HTTP-EQUIV Attribute Value Language META Tag This is an
optional tag. It declares to users the natural language of the document being
indexed. Search engines which index websites based on language often read this
tag to determine which language(s) is supported. This tag is particularly useful
for non-english and multiple language websites.
{meta http-equiv="content-language" content="en"}
Content-type Tag The Content-Type entity-header field indicates the media type
of the entity-body sent to the recipient. This is an optional tag.
{meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"}
Expires META Tag An optional tag that defines the date when the file will be
considered expired in cache and a new page will be generated. Only use when your
website is running a limited time event or there is a preset date when your
document will no longer be valid.
{meta http-equiv="expires" content="Tue, 04 Dec 1993 21:29:02
GMT"}
Refresh META Tag An optional tag used as a way to redirect or refresh users to
another web page after X number of seconds. This META tag is often used as a
"bridge" page which is accessed first by users and are then redirected
to another web page.
{meta http-equiv="refresh" content="seconds;url= http://www.website.com/index.html"}
NAME Attribute tags with a NAME attribute are used for information types that do
not correspond to HTTP headers.
Common Examples of the HTTP-NAME Attribute Keyword Tag Search Engines that
support META tags will often use the keywords found on your pages as a means to
categorize your website based on the search engines indexing algorithms
(proprietary algorithms which index your website in search engine databases).
Ensure you choose keywords that are relevant to your site. Avoid excessive
repetition as many search engines will penalize your rankings for attempting to
abuse their system. Search engines give priority to the first few words in your
description, so focus on your main keywords and then elaborate further by using
synonyms or other related words.
{meta name=”keywords” content = “keyword1,keyword2,keyword3”}
Keyword values are usually separated by commas. The maximum keyword allowance is
1000 characters, however, it is believed that anything over 255 characters is
ignored.
Description Tag Search engines that support META tags will often display the
Description META tag along with your title in their results. When creating your
META tags, make the first sentence of your description field capture the
attention of a user and use the rest of the description tag to elaborate
further.
Keep this description to no more than 25 words (maximum allowance is 150
characters). Not all search engines recognize this tag.
Conclusion Don’t let your site be one of the four web sites on the Web that do
not have Meta Tags. Optimize it now, so you have a greater chance to be listed
in the search engines. Getting listed, will bring more traffic which may mean
more sales.
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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of http://www.iSiteBuild.com
Affordable Web Site Design and Low
Cost Web Hosting
Subscribe to his “Marketing Tips” newsletter for more original
articles. subscribe@isitebuild.com.
You can read more
of his in-depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com/articles
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Article reproduced with kind permission from Herman Drost
