SEO: The Meta Data

Without boring you with a bunch of jargon that only a geek would understand, I want to address the meta data dilemma.

Meta Data is a set of special *tags* that are directed at the search engines. Your normal visitor won’t see it, and won’t even know it’s there. Your software visitors are the ones these special codes are designed for.

There are differing ideas about how important the description and title tags are on a blog or website, so I wanted to add my two cents worth.

Meta Data: Keyword

Let me dispell one of the myths right now. Google doesn’t place the same amount of importance on the keywords meta tag that they once did, thanks to some not-so-scrupulous webmasters stuffing it full of hundreds of keywords to artificially alter their page rank.

Despite being the largest, Google isn’t the only search engine. Yahoo and MSN and the more than 200 other search engine do use the keyword meta tag to help determine page relevance to the searchers topic. Therefore, you should continue to use it, just don’t abuse it.

If you are building a website, you should add the keyword meta tag to the beginning of each page in your site. The keywords you put there, should be 100% relavent to the contents of that page, and that page only.

If a blog is more your thing, go get Headspace2 and enable the keyword option (page modules) for each post or page you create. Again, your keywords should be specific to your page/post content.

Meta Data: Title

I can’t stress the importance of this one enough. It’s one of the first things the search spider sees and evaluates, and the first thing Google (or other search engines) will display about your content. The job of your title tag is quite simply, to *sell the click*.

A good rule of thumb about title tag length: Long enough to sell the click (and no longer) and include (in natural sounding language) your keyword(s).

There are three factors you should consider when building your title tag.

1. Keyword Density (how often your keyword appears)
2. Keyword Prominence (how close to the beginning of the title tag it appears)
3. Keyword Proximity (how close to related words your keyword appears)

Meta Data: Description

The final meta data tag I will cover is description. If your title tag’s job is to *sell the click*, the description is the *offer* or benefits described.

The *Offer* should:

• Make compelling promises
• Solve the readers most immediate problem
• Protect the reader (warnings work well)
• Help really articulate the real goal the reader has
• Ask for action
• Demonstrate the ownership exeperience

Now, just defining the *description* tag isn’t enough to guarantee that Google will use it. Google really wants to demonstrate it has served up the right content by showing the reader the keyword(s) they typed in within this description. So make sure you use the keyword early in the description and that it is 100% relavent to the content on that page.

Action Steps

Go review your *top 10 pages* on your site or blog with an eye towards these on page factors. Repair or adjust the one’s that need it immediately. Even small changes can have a big impact on how well your site or blog is displayed when a Google reader types in the keyword you are trying to rank well for.

About The Author

Cenay Nailor is an Internet, Affiliate and Networking Marketing success coach with mad technical skills she loves sharing. Visit her blog and sign up for a weekly injection of Tech-Based Marketing help, sent right to your inbox. http://www.CenayNailor.com

About The Author

Dali Burgado, also known as "The Dali Blogger" teaches creative entrepreneurs how to carve a web presence that connects with their Inner Guru and their target audience. Her first online marketing love is SEO. She's an avid connector on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. When she's not coaching or teaching, she's tweaking sites for Search Engine Visibility, working on her PHP and Javascript coding skills, Singing Opera, or learning about gardening. Circle Dali on Google+