meta-tags... still relevant?

1more · 09-26-2006, 02:59 PM

hey all,

I was recently doing some reading in a mag i have that mentioned, due to the over abuse of meta tags that they were no longer relevant in a search engines ..um.. search.

Do spiders still read and reference meta-tags, or are they kind of uselsess now?

thanks guys.. and, as this is directly related to marketing my website to the engines, i THINK this is the right forum...

BingoBalls · 09-26-2006, 03:02 PM

Not all search engines will use them but dont forget about the smaller meta search engines out there that can still provide some traffic and it is still standard practice to have them.

Google still reads the description tags to some extent.

1more · 09-26-2006, 03:23 PM

Thanks. Didn't think it would hurt, but I wasn't sure if it would help.

Matt

Mia · 09-26-2006, 04:47 PM

Most still do. Some seem to find them more relevant than others it seems however.

jasonpoteet · 09-26-2006, 06:10 PM

My theory is, meta tags are great for telling the competition the keywords in your list. I am still a n00b at SEO so I may be wrong, but when I am looking for keywords for adwords campaigns or organic traffic, I look at the meta keywords for the best competitors with the assumption they have paid decent money to some marketing firm to come up with them. The meta keywords aren't the only thing I would use, but you can get a good start there.

lifeofegypt · 09-30-2006, 05:49 PM

I agree that its a good place to start. But you still need to spend quality time on your inbound links and keyword placement. I try to add a page or two to all my sites every month with lots of quality content. Take your time and grow it right!

Ferre · 10-01-2006, 01:02 PM

Yahoo still loves them and Google uses them too sometimes, just don't over-do it. Short and accurate descriptions and no more than 20 keywords max and they do benefit your site in some extent.

John Scott · 10-01-2006, 08:37 PM

*Moved to SEO Forum.

aryo · 10-02-2006, 08:24 AM

there's definitely no harm in using them. it only takes like 5 minutes tops of your time.

vistadivine.com · 10-02-2006, 09:19 AM

Well some meta tags like the Description tag and the Title tag are still usefull but the other tags like Keywords tag and everything else are useless now.

Akash

pnelson · 10-03-2006, 12:48 PM

the smaller search engines use the meta tags.

some directories read out the tags upon submission to make registration easier :-)

Webfu · 10-03-2006, 02:41 PM

Seems to me that meta tags are played out and have been so over abused the last several years that SE's aren't giving the meta much weight. You can definately rank well in G = w/out using them at all as long as your page has good textual content to be found.

aryo · 10-03-2006, 06:17 PM

yeah but google isn't the only search engine. it's your choice though, five extra minutes to sit around and sing the alphabet backwards a couple times, or extra searchable info (on other SEs and such).

Webfu · 10-03-2006, 07:41 PM

No Google isn't the only SE.... It's just the most popular source for information in the world. Ask a question, use it as a calculator or dictionary, search for anything - it gives you answers.

IMO the best use for the meta desc is to give an accurate description of the website. In some cases I don't even bother with using keywords in the desc tag anymore. Instead I use it as hook to lure people into clicking on my link by providing some enticing words like " Sale or Save BIG when you buy in bulk... "