Website Optimizations For Search Engines (2 of 5)
Last week I talked to you about website optimizations for search engines with title tags. This week we’ll be discussing meta keywords. If you missed last weeks article I invite you to check it out.
Part Two: Meta Keywords
What are Meta Keywords?: Unlike title tags, meta keywords are never seen by a website visitor. In the early days of the internet and search engines, meta keywords were quite possibly the most important part of SEO. A Keyword is a word that a search engine user might use to find a relevant web page or pages.
In the above picture I am using "wordpress plugins" as my keywords in a google search for WordPress Plugins.
Meta Keywords are the keywords that website designers place in the code of their website. You can see the meta keywords for your page, or really page on any website, by right clicking on the page and selecting “View Page Source” from the drop down menu.
The meta keyword tag starts with "<meta name="keywords" content=" and then the keywords for the page.
Like I said it used to be REALLY important. That was until website designers started gaming the system. They would put keywords in their meta keyword area that had nothing to do with the content on their page in order to drive traffic to their site. Search Engines eventually caught on to the practice and lessened the value they placed on meta keywords. That being said they are still somewhat important and easy for you to optimize for your page.
Why are Meta Keywords important?: While Meta Keywords aren’t quite as important as they used to be they can still help search engines determine what your website is about. Without them Search Engines are left on their own to decide which words on your page are the most important.
PRO TIP: Be careful not to use too many keywords in your meta keyword area. Using a huge amount of keywords is called “Keyword Stuffing” and could get your website penalized by search engines such as Google. I don’t mean they will send you a fine but they might rank you lower or delist you from their data base all together. Keep your keywords relevant and below 10 keywords or keywords strings.
Meta Keywords are still an important factor in Optimizing your website for search engines. Take advantage of this easy to use tool.
So far you have learned what meta keywords are and why they are important. If you have NO website creation experience then the rest of this article might bore you. If your meta keywords are incorrect or missing , either hire SixVine to help you or get your webMASTER to fix the issue.
Where are Meta Keywords entered?: As I said above Meta keywords are stored on the hidden code of your webpage header area.
If you are using a program such as Dreamweaver to create your HTML website then you will have to add your meta keywords to your page before you up load it to your server. If you’ve already created your pages you’ll have to reload all them into your website design program and decide what the keywords should be for each of your pages, add them to the pages and then re-upload them to your server.
Why I love WordPress
Again, a WordPress website makes this very easy if you have the right WordPress plugin like “SEO Ultimate”.
In the above three pictures you can see the controls for SEO Ultimate. The red arrow points to the “Meta Keyword” settings which will open up a page that looks much like the upper right picture. On that page you can set the keywords for all your pages. Conversely you can use the “Meta Keywords” box that appears on all of the edit pages for your posts and pages. WordPress makes these types of tasks super easy, you just have to remember to do it.
Today you’ve learned about Meta Keywords and where they are placed within a website. I’ll repeat one more time that while Meta Keywords aren’t as important as they used to be, it’s still a valuable on page SEO tool and since it’s easy to do there is no reason not to.
Next week I’ll be talking to you about the wonderful world of Meta Descriptions. While this is another “meta” area on your page I think you will be surprised at why it’s so important. So come back next week to find out the answers to these questions:
- What is a Meta Descripti0n?
- Why are Meta Descriptions important?
- Where are Meta Descriptions entered?
We’ll see you next week.
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