SEO & Marketing Blog

This article details how description meta tags are perceived in todays major search engines and offers recommendation on whether to use the meta tag when developing web pages.

Meta tags were once very important instruments in telling search engines about your web page. Nowadays many sites do not include either the description meta tag or the keyword meta (article coming soon) because the top search engine — Google — seems to place very little importance on them. Reasons for this may be that webmasters started to abuse the meta tag system, using techniques such as keyword stuffing to bump their site to the number 1 spot. This was of course unhelpful to web users, as most of the time they would arrive at inaccurate pages. Search engines changed their algorithms to focus more on link text, incoming links and quality of incoming links.

Yahoo and MSN (Live) still give weight to meta tags, less so the description and more the keywords. If you’re running a new website, Google will probably not offer you organic traffic to begin, they seem to place great emphasis on domain age and enjoy placing new sites in the sandbox. For that reason, it’s best to include meta tags and pick up traffic from the other search engines, even if the quality of traffic is not great. Whether, in Google’s eyes, meta tags serve a negative purpose is not entirely known. One thing’s for sure, the tags move your main content away from the top of the page and reduce keyword density.

Here’s where the description meta tag plays a big roll. A person searches for a term you rank well for. If you’ve included a description, you have the chance of attracting this person to your page with a absorbing piece of writing. If you didn’t include the description meta tag, the searcher may well find something like this:

“Your great title

random gibberish… keyword ….blah blah blah … keyword copyright your company”

Not very appealing and not very professional, is it?

In summary, if you run a new website, use both meta tags, but be accurate and concise. If you run an aged website, use the description to maximize click through rate, and use keywords if you want to attract more Yahoo and MSN visitors.

Incoming links are very important – yes. Give up half your disposable time asking for incoming links – no. The truth is, if you build a quality website with a a) good design b) fresh content c) personality d) sound reputation, people will link to you without you having to put the effort of filling out link forms and all those monotonous tasks.

Another way to get incoming links is to write press releases or articles including keyword links to your website, then offer them for free to website owners. prweb.com is a popular website for press releases. They do however charge a fee. If you’re on a budget, start contributing to a community forum, show off your website at every opportunity but don’t go overboard straight away and make your first post “HEY LOOK AT MY NEW WEBSITE, IT’S BRILLIANT!!!”. Eventually people will open up and you can offer them free articles which include your links.

The third option is to buy text links, which personally I’m not a big fan of. The main reason behind my dislike for bought text links, is the unpredictability of search engines (especially Google) and their ability to spot any webmasters trying to tamper with the search engine rankings. One minute your on the first page and the next your nowhere to be seen! To make it harder for search engines to discern the bought link, go for a deep link, which is your chosen keyword placed inside relevant content. Lastly, if you do decide to buy text links, make sure you you thoroughly research the website you are investing your money and your brands image into.