SEO and Meta Tags - That's Sooo 1999

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The one area I get the most requests for information about is Search Engine Optimization, or SEO for short. What is SEO? The online encyclopedia Wikipedia gives this definition: "Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of methodologies aimed at improving the visibility of a website in search engine listings."

I've also found a lot of misinformation is given out about SEO from people who don't do SEO for a living and therefore can't be expected to keep up on the daily research needed to be effective in this area.

Since I've been researching and practicing good SEO techniques for 5 years, I felt it's time to share some of that knowledge and clear up some misconceptions. I won't ask you to take my word for anything in this series, I'll provide quotes and links to articles by some nationally recognized SEO experts.

META Tags - They're Sooo 1999

Jill Whalen of High Rankings®.com 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.