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SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION)ARTICLES
Meta
tags for Search Engine Optimization
How
to Use Meta Tags for Search Engine Optimization
Copyright 2002 Herman Drost
Statistics show that only one of every four Web
Sites Meta tags. However using these tags can
give your site an advantage over other sites that
do not. Meta tags enable most visitors to initially
find your site from the search engines.
What are Meta Tags?
These are HTML tags that provide information that
describes the content of the web pages that the
visitor will be viewing. Web Site owners use this
resource to control their positioning and descriptions
in the search engines. Most search engines incorporate
reading meta tags as part of their indexing formula.
Where to Place Meta Tags
They should go in between the <head>
and </head>
tags in your html page.
Types of Meta Tags
The Doctype tag The DTD (Document Type Definition)
tag precedes the opening <HTML> tag. It
is generally the first element to be used on any
page. It distinguishes the version of HTML in
use from other versions of HTML and tells the
browser what tags to expect when laying out the
page.
<!doctype html public
"-//wc3//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
If a browser doesn't understand a tag, it just
ignores it. This, in effect, renders <!doctype>
useless. For the proponents of strict standardization,
a statement like <!doctype> would ensure
standardization. If a browser didn't recognize
the statement, itcould ignore the page.
META Tags and Document Identification
The syntax for the <meta>
tag is:
<meta name="namevalue"
content="contentvalue"> or
<meta http-equiv="namevalue"
content="contentvalue">
The <META> tag requires the CONTENT attribute
and adds either the NAME or HTTP-EQUIV attribute.
These define the general information you are creating
or changing in the document, and the CONTENT attribute
defines the value of the general information.
HTTP-EQUIV Attribute
<META HTTP-EQUIV>
tags are equivalent to HTTP headers. To understand
headers, you must understand the process that
occurs when you use a Web browser to request a
document from a Web server. You request information
using your browser and the Web Server receives
your request via HTTP, the standard Web protocol.
When the server finds the page you requested,
it generates an HTTP response. The initial data
in that response is called the HTTP header block.
This header gives the Web browser information
useful for displaying the page.
Common Examples of the HTTP-EQUIV Attribute Value
Language META Tag This is an optional tag. It
declares to users the natural language of the
document being indexed. Search engines which index
websites based on language often read this tag
to determine which language(s) is supported. This
tag is particularly useful for non-english and
multiple languagewebsites.
<meta http-equiv="content-language"
content="en">
Content-type Tag
The Content-Type entity-header field indicates
the media type of the entity-body sent to the
recipient. This is an optional tag. <meta
http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;
charset=windows-1252">
Expires META Tag
An optional tag that defines the date when the
file will be considered expired in cache and a
new page will be generated. Only use when your
website is running a limited time event or there
is a preset date when your document will no longer
be valid.
<meta http-equiv="expires"
content="Tue, 04 Dec 1993 21:29:02 GMT">
Refresh META Tag
An optional tag used as a way to redirect or refresh
users to another web page after X number of seconds.
This META tag is often used as a "bridge"
page which is accessed first by users and are
then redirected to another web page.
<meta http-equiv="refresh"
content="seconds;url=http://www.website.com/index.html">
NAME Attribute
<META> tags
with a NAME attribute are used for information
types that do not correspond to HTTP headers.
Common Examples of the HTTP-NAME Attribute
Keyword Tag Search
Engines that support META tags will often use
the keywords found on your pages as a means to
categorize your website based on the search engines
indexing algorithms (proprietary algorithms whichindex
your website in search engine databases).
Ensure you choose keywords that are relevant to
your site. Avoid excessive repetition as many
search engines will penalize your rankings for
attempting to abuse their system. Search engines
give priority to the first few words in your description,
so focus on your main keywords and then elaborate
further by usingsynonyms or other related words.
<meta name="keywords"
content = "keyword1,keyword2,keyword3">
Keyword values are usually separated by commas.
The maximum keyword allowance is 1000 characters,
however, it is believed that anything over 255
characters is ignored.
Description Tag
Search engines that support META tags will often
display the Description META tag along with your
title in their results. When creating your META
tags, make the first sentence of your description
field capture the attention of a user anduse the
rest of the description tag to elaborate further.
<meta name="description"
content="This camping site is about outdoor
camps">
Keep this description to no more than 25 words
(maximum allowance is 150 characters). Not all
search engines recognize this tag.
Conclusion
Don't let your site be one of the four web sites
on the Web that do not have Meta Tags. Optimize
it now, so you have a greater chance to be listed
in the search engines. Getting listed, will bring
more traffic which may mean more sales.
==================================
Herman Drost is a Certified Internet Webmaster
(CIW) owner and author of iSiteBuild.com Site
Design and Low Cost Hosting (http://www.isitebuild.com)
Subscribe to the "Marketing Tips" newsletter
for more original articles. mailto:
subscribe@isitebuild.com
==================================
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