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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, it could ignore
the page.
META Tags and Document Identification
The syntax for the
tag is: <meta name="namevalue"
content="contentvalue">
or <meta http-equiv="namevalue"
content="contentvalue">
The
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 language websites.
<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">
<META>
NAME Attribute
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 which index 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 using
synonyms 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 and use 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:
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