Meta Tags Explained - What Are They? How To Use Them

META TAGS EXPLAINED

A META Tag is one line of HTML Code that you insert just underneath the TITLE html code. Depending on the nature of the meta tag, its html code will either be in this format: <meta name="???" content="???"> or in this format: <meta http-equiv="???" content="???">. Although the two formats must use the CONTENT attribute, they can only be paired with either the NAME attribute or the HTTP-EQUIV attribute but not both.

The purpose of a meta tag is to provide information (i.e. keywords) or identification (i.e. type of content) relating to the current web page, with the basic meta tags being scanned (read) by search engines, third parties and individuals alike to gather up general information about your website and its web pages. HTTP-EQUIV is used to give instructions to the web browser and NAME is used for information purposes.

Years ago meta tags were highly prized by website owners because they knew the search engines would rank their web pages according to how good their meta tags were, and more precisely how good their keywords were inside the Description and Keywords meta tags. Those two meta tags were what search engines used to index and describe/list your web page, within a search result for example. These days though search engines look at alternative ways of collecting information about your website and its web pages, mainly because meta tags have been abused/manipulated over the years (i.e. bad website owners using unrelated keywords to describe/sell their product(s) and/or service(s), repeating keywords to get higher rankings and so on). This does not mean meta tags are completely dead/obsolete though. It just means search engines are now taking the age of your website, its content (text/articles), its relevance to a particular search query, its links and so on into consideration too, as opposed to relying heavily on meta tags as they did years ago. Many of these considerations are difficult to abuse/manipulate because they are out of your control.

Fig 1.0 An example of a web page (html file) with META Tags inside it

Fig 1.0 above shows some general HTML Code used in an index.htm web page with META Tags. I will now describe some of the basic meta tags, together with their basic attributes, so that you have a better understanding of what meta tags are and what they are used for - There are other, programming, meta tags out there but the ones explained below will give you the general idea.

Description

<meta name="description" content="a short description about the content inside this web page">

The word description goes inside the NAME attribute which is paired with the CONTENT attribute. CONTENT must be filled with a short description that describes the content of the current web page - This is normally a short description about the product(s) and/or service(s) mentioned within the current web page. An example:

<meta name="description" content="at bob's showroom we buy and sell dirt cheap cars and other inexpensive vehicles">

Before writing your description think about what your potential client is going to search for when trying to find your product(s) and/or service(s). Are they going to search for "cheap cars", "dirt cheap cars" or "inexpensive vehicles"? Then ask yourself: Are my words misleading? - Am I only using the word "cheap" to bring in the client or am I really selling cheaper cars. Would it be better to use the word "affordable" or "inexpensive" instead of "cheap"? Are my words so common that they have to compete with other websites/web pages selling "cheap cars"? If so, try using unique/alternative keywords/keyphrases like "Reasonably Priced", "Low Cost" and "Easy On The Pocket". The reason I point these questions out is because search engines may use some of your description words to create search engine, description, results. So think carefully before creating your description.

Try and keep your description between 3 words minimum and 30 keywords maximum or between 1 and 7 keyphrases. It is only meant to be a short sentence, not a detailed paragraph. Also avoid repeating your keywords because some search engines classify this as spam and hinder your ranking. In other words. Using website twice as two keywords (i.e. website, design, website, creation) is not good but using website twice within two keyphrases (i.e. website creation, website design) should be okay as they should be classified as two separate phrases/sentences. I say should because it really does depend on each search engine and the way they treat the description meta tag.

Keywords

<meta name="keywords" content="keywords that describe the content inside this web page">

The word keywords goes inside the NAME attribute which is paired with the CONTENT attribute. CONTENT must be filled with keywords relating to the content of the current web page. Some people believe CONTENT should be filled with Keywords separated by commas whilst others believe it should be filled with Key Phrases (Sentences) separated by commas. If you look at various web page source codes though you will see many website owners like to use variants of the two methods. Either way, a search engine should be able to distinguish between keywords and keyphrases regardless of commas and other punctuations. Therefore, both methods should work. Here are three examples:

<meta name="keywords" content="we buy and sell dirt cheap cars and other inexpensive vehicles">

<meta name="keywords" content="buy, sell, cheap, cars, inexpensive, vehicles">

<meta name="keywords" content="buy and sell, cheap cars, inexpensive vehicles">

Regardless of the method you use always think about how your potential clients will search for your product(s) and/or service(s), as explained above with the Description meta tag.

Try and keep your keywords between 5 words minimum and 20 words maximum. Also. Do not repeat keywords and do not use keywords that are unrelated to the content of the current web page - This is because putting keywords that have nothing to do with the content of the current web page may hinder your search engine ranking. The only reason for repeating a keyword is when you want to use its plural form (i.e. car and cars).

Title

<title>your web page title here</title>

Title is not really a meta tag, although many claim it is because they associate it with meta tags and more precisely how it is used as the web page link title in a search result. However. Title is really a HTML Code that describes the title of the current web page, which is shown in a web browser's title bar whenever someone visits that web page and is also used as the description/title whenever someone adds that web page to their Favorites List (Bookmarks List).

Because title is highly prized with search engine results (i.e. it becomes the title of a web page link) you should think really hard about the title. Bob's Showroom, for example, would not be suitable unless everyone knows bob and his showroom. Also. Bob and Showroom are common words that would have competitors using them as well. Remember. You are not famous yet! So think of a title that is relevant to the current web page but also a title that tells people what you have to offer in terms of your product(s) and/or service(s). "New And Used Cars - Just For You" or "New And Used Cars - 50% Off In 2010" would be great for bob because although people would see the standard "New And Used Cars" in search results it is the "Just For You" and "50% Off In 2010" that would distinguish bob from other car showrooms and get the clicks. Using keywords and keyphrases such as "FREE", "Explained", "How To", "Video", "Guide", "Help and Support" and so on in your title can also help boost your search engine ranking.

Try and keep your title between 5 words minimum and 10 words maximum. Remember. The title is normally used in search results so you do not want it to be too long, otherwise it might get cropped.

Generator

<meta name="generator" content="name of the software that created/generated this web page">

The word generator goes inside the NAME attribute which is paired with the CONTENT attribute. CONTENT should be filled with the name of the software that created/generated this web page (i.e. Dreamweaver) but website programmers sometimes fill it with their own information (i.e. with their name or id). Two examples:

<meta name="generator" content="John White (WebsiteCreationHelp)">

<meta name="generator" content="Dreamweaver 2.0">

<meta name="copyright" content="the name(s) of the copyright owner(s) of this web page or website">

The word copyright goes inside the NAME attribute which is paired with the CONTENT attribute. CONTENT should be filled with the name(s) of the copyright owner(s) of this web page or website. This is normally the name of the software developer, the website owner and/or the website programmer. An example:

<meta name="copyright" content="(c) John White, 2010. All Rights Reserved.">

Author

<meta name="author" content="the name(s) of the author(s) of this web page or website">

The word author goes inside the NAME attribute which is paired with the CONTENT attribute. CONTENT should be filled with the name(s) of the author(s) of this web page or website. This is normally the name of the software developer, the website owner and/or the website programmer. An example:

<meta name="author" content="John White">

Owner

<meta name="owner" content="the name(s) of the website owner(s)">

The word owner goes inside the NAME attribute which is paired with the CONTENT attribute. CONTENT should be filled with the name(s) of the website owner(s). This is normally the name of the website owner and/or the website programmer. An example:

<meta name="owner" content="John White">

Language

<meta http-equiv="language" content="the name of the langauge used in this web page">

The word language goes inside the HTTP-EQUIV attribute which is paired with the CONTENT attribute. CONTENT should be filled with the abbreviated name of the language text used inside this web page. If this meta tag is not used the default language is used, usually US-English (US-EN). This meta tag is good if the current web page contains French text for example whereby you want search engine results to list the web page only for French language searchers/viewers. An example of declaring the current web page as French:

<meta http-equiv="language" content="fr">

You can use variants of a language, such as fr-ca for french quebec or fr-fr for french french. English has variants too. en-gb for english great britain, en-us for english united states and of course en for generic english. Here are some more common languages:

BG (Bulgarian)
CS (Czech)
DA (Danish)
DE (German)
EL (Greek)
ES (Spanish)
ES-ES (Spanish-Spain)
FI (Finnish)
HR (Croatian)
IT (Italian)
JA (Japanese)
KO (Korean)
NL (Dutch)
NO (Norwegian)
PL (Polish)
PT (Portuguese)
RU (Russian)
SV (Swedish)
ZH (Chinese)

Refresh

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="the number of seconds before refreshing this web page">

The word refresh goes inside the HTTP-EQUIV attribute which is paired with the CONTENT attribute. CONTENT should be filled with the number of seconds you want to pass by (delay) before the web page content is refreshed (redisplayed). One reason for wanting to refresh a web page is when you want to redirect the visitor to a different web page. Take the following scenario.

Last year you wrote a web page called cars.htm but this year have decided you want each car type to have its own web page, so you create an index web page for them called cars_index.htm. However. Your visitors are currently still visiting the cars.htm web page that you want to get rid of. So what do you do? You clear the cars.htm web page and leave a message inside it saying "The cars web page you are looking for has moved". You then add the following meta tag:

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5; url=http://www.yourwebsite.com/cars_index.htm">

That meta tag tells the visitor's web browser (i.e. Internet Explorer) to display the cars.htm web page (the message) for 5 seconds before then redirecting the web browser to display the cars_index.htm web page. Or put another way. Display the cars.htm web page for 5 seconds before refreshing the web browser's display with the cars_index.htm web page.

The above meta tag used the optional URL redirection command. With a normal refresh you would just specify the number of seconds.

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5">

You may want to carry out a normal refresh when using random data. For example. With each visit to the current web page a different piece of music might be played or a different text message might be displayed. A refresh would emulate a new visitor. Refresh is normally reserved for website programmers, so do not worry too much about this meta tag.

content-type

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