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Once the keyword research for a site is complete, the next step is to develop META tags using those keywords/keyword phrases. Because each page within a site should be optimized for it's own set of keyword terms, each page should have it's own set of META tags as well.
Do you remember looking at a map as a kid wondering what in the world you were looking at? All the numbers, colors, symbols, pictures...it all seemed unintelligible. Then one day you noticed the legend at the bottom of the map...just a brief explanation of what the different numbers, colors, symbols and pictures meant. We learned that without the legend, some maps were utterly useless. Think of META tags as a "legend" for the search engines. META tags are the search engines' first glimpse into the page content...introducing them for the very first time to the words that are most important for that page. |
Common Misconceptions About META Tag Relevancy
Before going any further, let's put to rest some common misconceptions about META tag relevancy. First, relevancy simply means that the words that are in the title, description and keywords META tags appear somewhere within the text on that page. That is all it means. Nothing more, nothing less. Here's an example:
TITLE: Home
DESCRIPTION: Call us today at (888) 555-5555.
KEYWORDS: cheers
TEXT CONTENT: Welcome to the home of Cheers - call us today at (888) 555-5555.
With 10 words, 10 numbers, 2 parentheses, 2 hyphens and a period, I have created META tags and text content that would result in a 100% relevancy score. This page would not rank in a keyword search. 100% relevancy is, without a doubt, the most basic and fundamental step in SEO, but 100% relevancy scores make a site rank well. Not having 100% relevancy scores could prevent a page from gaining a high ranking, but 100% relevancy alone will never result in a high ranking. That's why all website pages should begin with 100% relevant META tags before employing any other On-Page SEO techniques. |
Building META tags is not difficult, but it does require some knowledge of the rules established by the search engines regarding "search engine friendly" META tags. Information about what the search engines are looking for in the title, description and keywords META tags is explained in greater detail below. Please note: if a META tag isn't mentioned on this page, it has no definitive role in SEO. That is not to say that other META tags do not serve a purpose, but that purpose would not be directly related to SEO. |
Title META tag
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Vital to search engine ranking.
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Should contain the primary (most important) keyword phrases.
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Most important keyword phrases should come first.
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Up to 80 characters long (including spaces).
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City and state should be used in the title if the business services any local customers.
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City and state should be the largest service area of the business (i.e. Los Angeles, CA rather than La Verne, CA).
The title should be the first META tag created for a site. The words in the META title weigh heavily with the search engines. Therefore, whatever terms a site hopes to rank highest for should be included the META title. For instance, if the owner of a mexican restaurant in Jacksonville, FL wants the home page to be found in Google when someone types in "mexican restaurant jacksonville fl", the META title for the home page should be something like this: "Santiago's Mexican Restaurant - Jacksonville, FL".
"I have a nationwide service area...", you say? That's fine. Choose a large metropolitan area in the home state of the business. Putting a service area in the title META tag does not eliminate a site from a more general keyword search. For example, a site with the title "Weight Loss Supplements - Indianapolis, IN" might rank on page 112 for the term "weight loss supplements", but on page 8 for "weight loss supplements indianapolis in". Even in this global economy, some consumers prefer doing business with a local business - for that reason, providing a service area in the title can help local customers find a site more easily.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The META title should be no longer than 80 characters.
That 80 character limit does include spaces.
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Description META tag
- Displayed by many search engines within the search results (typically shown beneath the link to your website).
- Very important when it comes to click through rates.
- Needs to sell the end user on clicking on your search result - a call to action.
- Up to 200 characters long (including spaces).
- Logical sentences using primary & secondary keywords with essential information first - should be a call to action (i.e. "Come to Santiago's Mexican Restaurant in Jacksonville, FL today for authentic Mexican cuisine, private parties and group meetings. Don't forget to ask us about catering corporate luncheons.")
- Include a primary service area, but not necessarily the company name.
Description META tags play a large part in helping to convince people to click on a particular link in a search result. Search engines often display this information in the search results, so it is important that the description read well and give the search user a reason to visit the website described. The description should be a brief summary of the page content and should contain each of the words within your title, as well as a "call to action" statement (i.e. "Come to Santiago's Mexican Restaurant in Jacksonville, FL today for authentic Mexican cuisine...".
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The META description should be no longer than 200 characters.
As with the title, that 200 character limit does include spaces.
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Robots META tag
- No longer required by search engines
- Can help to make it crystal clear to the search engines the intent of the site is to have it indexed and ranked within the search results
- If one is used, it should be formatted as follows:
- <META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="INDEX,FOLLOW">
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