SEO and META Tags

They're soooo 1999!

Jill Whalen of High Rankings® is an internationally recognized search engine optimization consultant and has this to say about META tags:

"Changing or adding Meta tags on your site is neither a quick fix nor a slow fix. It won't fix anything and it won't have any effect on your search engine ranking."

It's true in 2007 that Google doesn't rely on Meta tags to boost your search engine rankings, but other search engines will use them as a starting point in categorizing, but not ranking, your site. That doesn't mean you should ignore Meta tags altogether when thinking about SEO, though. The keywords and phrases you use in your Meta description tag don't affect your page's ranking in the search engines but this tag can still come in handy in your overall SEO campaigns.

This is the top search result on Google for the term "CD WebMaker":

The text in red comes from the description Meta tag on my home page. The description given with a search engine result is what humans read that lets them know what the web page is about and attempts to convince them to visit the web site.

If you haven't put a Meta description tag into your web page, the search engines will supply their own description.

To determine what description is coded into your web site, or your competition's web site, see my video How to View Source Code.