Back in the day (translation a few years ago in internet time), meta tags were all the rage. It seemed to be that all you had to do was stuff your meta tags with the keywords you wanted your site to rank for, and just sit back and watch the traffic roll in. Well those days are long gone, but that does not mean that meta tags have no more use either. I have found that most people marketing on the internet today have no idea How to use Meta Tags. And this is a shame because in the right hands, meta tags can be incredibly handy.
Let us take a look at some common uses for meta tags these days. Meta Tags Explained
First of all meta tags are about more than just keywords. For example, you can use meta tags to control what pages of your web site that search engines are able to crawl. And you can also control what pages they index in their search engine results. These tags are referred to as the robot tags and include the nofollow and noindex tags. Are these tags fool proof? Certainly not, but they belong in every internet marketers toolbox, because they allow you to control link juice for one thing.
Perhaps the most overlooked meta tag is the description tag. While search engines may no longer place relevance on the keywords used in your meta tags, they may still show your meta tag description to search engine visitors. And even if your site ranks in the top 10 for a competitive keyword if your meta tag description is horrible, why would someone click on your url to see what your site is all about to start with? You see getting your site ranked is only half the problem, even after you get ranked well you still need to convert the traffic. And you can do this with a properly written description tag.
These are the major meta tags one should be familiar with, but you can also use meta tags to set your page’s language, author name, date, etc. Now most of the extra keywords are only meaningful for your own usage. And they are also useful, if not required, for your own web site’s search engine. They will help organize your site properly so that a search is more effective.
So if you have ever wanted Meta Tags Explained properly, we have just given you a high level overview. Now the key is what you will do with your new found knowledge. Your best bet is to go ahead and get started today on updating your individual web pages to make sure you have a solid description meta tag and robot tags.