How to Optimize Your Meta-titles, Descriptions and Keywords
Published June 27, 2010
The term “meta data” is used to describe information within the coding of your site that the search engines use to index your site. The search engine companies send programs called “spiders” out to gather information about your site and determine how to display it in the search results page. Your meta data is the key information which tells your users and the search engines what your site is about. If your meta data is consistent with the intended theme of your site, it increases your chances of ranking well in the search results and increase the odds of attracting qualified traffic.
This article will break down the three types of information which are included in your meta data and show you how to gain access to and edit your them.
Three Types of Meta Data
There are three types of data in your meta data:
1. Meta-titles
2. Meta-descriptions
3. Meta-keywords
You can view all three of these for any website by selecting the “page source” option under “view” in your browser toolbar. For example:
Which would present you with a page of code, within which you can view your meta-data (the numerals 1,2 and 3 will not be present in actual source code):
Which would present you with a page of code, within which you can view your meta-data (the numerals 1,2 and 3 will not be present in actual source code):
In the example above, the numbers 1, 2 and 3 represent the three types of meta-data that we’ll be covering in this article:
1. Meta-titles
2. Meta-descriptions
3. Meta-keywords
You can use this “view page source” approach to view the meta information of your site or a site of a competitor who is already ranking high in the search engines.
Now, let’s break down the three types of meta data, their impact on your SEO and how they affect your visitor experience.
#1 Your Meta-title tag
Your meta-title tag is visible to users and to search engine spiders and it shows the search engines and your visitors what your page is about. For example, below is how your meta-title appears when a link to your site displays in the search results:
The meta titles are the underlined text in the example above. The example below shows how your meta-title appears when visitors are viewing your web page:
As you can see, it’s crucial that your meta-title makes it clear what the theme of your web page is. It’s also important that the primary keywords for the web page are contained within the meta-title. For example, if the theme of your site is “how to overcome anxiety” and the primary keyword of the page is “overcome anxiety” then “Discover how to overcome anxiety” would be a perfect meta title.
Keep in mind also that only the first 35 characters (including spaces) of your meta title will be visible to your visitors.
#2 Your Meta-Description
Your meta-description appears directly below your meta-title when your site information displays in the search engine results page:
As you can see, your meta-description is like a classified ad for your web page. The more relevant it is to the theme of your site, the more likely it is to encourage the right visitors to click on your site. It’s also important that your meta-description is interesting and gives your visitors a reason to visit your site.
For best results, use your keyword once within the first five words of your meta-description. Making your meta-description match the first 160 characters of your web pages content will also ensure that your visitors get exactly what they expect when they visit your site (see also our article on keyword research).
#3 Your Meta-Keywords
Your meta-keywords aren’t visible to your visitors like your meta-titles and meta-descriptions are. Instead, your meta keywords tell the search engine spiders which keywords your site is optimized for. In the exmaple below, number three is the keyword data (the numerals 1,2 and 3 will not be present in actual source code):
It’s important that your meta-keywords are consistent with the keywords which your page content is optimize for and that your meta-keywords are assigned to each page according to the overall structure of your site (see our article on silo structure for more information).
It’s important that your meta-keywords are consistent with the keywords which your page content is optimize for and that your meta-keywords are assigned to each page according to the overall structure of your site (see our article on silo structure for more information).
Editing Your Meta-Data
Viewing the page source in your browser won’t enable you to edit your meta-data. However, with a program like Dreamweaver, you can go to the code view, find the meta information and simply type the desired information in for your meta-title, meta-description and meta-keywords.
The other option is to select the meta data you want and hire a web programmer to input it into your code. As long as you’ve already provided the meta information you want, this job should take no longer than two minutes per page. So if your site is less than 30 pages, you shouldn’t be paying a programmer for more than one hour worth of work.
Conclusion
Optimizing these three types of meta data will help promote the value of your site to the search engines and to your visitors alike, increase the amount of visitors to your site and present you with more opportunities to monetize your web traffic or gather leads for your business. For more information about optimizing your meta descriptions, see the articles on this site about on page optimization and keywords research.
For more information on optimizing meta tags, we our article on meta tag optimization.
For more information on optimizing meta tags, we our article on meta tag optimization.
To gain access to the most up-to-date SEO strategies, fill out the form below to sign up for our newsletter. This newsletter will help you know what Google's up to as well as how you can get your website ranking higher without raising any red flags.
{"http://www.seositecheckup.com/articles/82":{"data":[]}}
Read Related Articles About On Page SEO
- How to Build Relationships and Your Brand With the New Google Images
It?s virtually impossible to say ?SEO? without thinking ?Google.? Google has always been THE search engine to figure out in the world of internet marketing. If you can utilize the free tools they offer, your SEO campaign will be dramatically better than a campaign which does not. - What We Know: a Guide to "The New SEO"
We can't know everything ? especially after the latest algorithm re-haul. After extensive testing and trial-and-error, though, we've been able to determine a framework for getting real results on the search engine positions. - Taking a "Value First, SEO Second" Approach to Internet Marketing
SEO is, by far, the top strategy used by internet marketers and online business owners. It's easy to see why ? with SEO, you open the floodgates to thousands of unique and "targeted" visitors. These people are searching for a website in your niche, so naturally, once they find it, they?ll be likely to buy your product/service. - Three Examples of a Solid Keyword Strategy
It's not that NONE of the old SEO strategies work ? it's just that SEO is in a near constant state of evolution. The best internet marketers realize this and plan ahead with their SEO strategies. When Google makes a change to their algorithm, savvy internet marketers make changes to their SEO campaigns, ensuring their websites stay on page #1 regardless of what Google's doing. - Five Ways to Make Your SEO Process More Organic to Users and Search Engines
Most marketers know that they need to make their SEO and content creation process more organic. If your link building or your content creation appears unnatural or ?spammy,? you can end up setting yourself back weeks or even months in your endeavor to achieve favorable search engine rankings. - Where the Duplicate Content Rule Came from And How it Really Impacts Your SEO
If you have been spending a lot of money on creating hundreds of unique articles or spinning articles in order to create enough unique content for your article submissions, this might be one of the most important things you?ve read in a long time. Contrary to what many have come to believe, content duplication is something which you can use in your content marketing strategy, and if you do it right, it won?t hurt your SEO. - Five Creative Ways to Add Value and Credibility to Your Website
Value and credibility are the two most important factors when it comes to growing your website. Although they are synergistic (meaning when you focus on one, the other one also improves), you should always be putting yourself in the position of your viewers when building a website. - When Seconds Count: The Importance of Fast Loading Times
Search engines are becoming more conscious of loading times when it comes to determining the rank of your website and also PPC quality scores. However, just how important is page load time the owner of the website? Does it really make that big of a difference when it comes to the bottom line goal for your website to generate qualified traffic and to achieve conversions? In this article, we'll be looking at some spastics which might surprise you about the difference which your page load time makes. - How to Create Well Optimized and Natural Sounding Content
When it comes to creating content for your website or articles for building links back, it can be difficult to create something which is well optimized with your target keywords but which also looks smooth and natural to your human readers. Optimized, keyword rich content often sounds mechanical and even grammatically incorrect, especially when it comes to optimizing for long tail keywords. - SEO Site Structure Principles
Learn the important guidelines for properly structuring your site for search engines. - Using Silo Structure or Maximum On Page SEO Effectiveness
A common problem for on page optimization is keeping the content within your website organized so that the search engines can make a clear distinction as to the theme or your pages. - Speed Up Your Website to Increase Traffic
Learn how speeding up your website can drive traffic and sales. Also learn common methods for decreasing page loading times. - Five Simple Things You Can Do to Increase Conversions On Your Website
The ultimate goal of having a website is to generate more business for your organization. This is true whether your objective is to generate more leads for off-line services, sell shippable products, sell memberships or sell downloadable products. Of course, one way to do this is to achieve a higher ranking with the search engines and to thus attract more traffic to your site. - How to Use Effective Meta Tags
Learn how to effectively use meta-tags to increase your search engine visibilty and referral traffic. - How Do Outbound Links Affect SEO?
Find out the impact of outbound linking on your site's SEO and the best strategies for building outbound links. - Alt Tags and Other Image Optimization Tools
Having an attractive site is important for making a good first impression on your visitors. This is why it's crucial that you use great looking images to accompany your site copy and to communicate the overall "personality" of your company. - Traffic Conversion Strategies
Learn several great strategies for improving conversions on your website. - How Analytics Tools Can Guide Your SEO Efforts
Learn how and which analytics tools can improve your SEO efforts. - Split Testing to Improve Your Site's Performance
Learn how split testing can greatly improve conversions and user behaviors on your site. - Are Doorway Pages an Effective SEO Technique?
Learn about doorway pages, how they work, and if they are an effective SEO technique. - How to Optimize Your PPC Landing Page for the Google Quality Score
Pay per click (PPC) marketing can prove to be an effective tool for driving traffic to your site and testing variables to optimize your traffic conversion. However, succeeding at PPC marketing takes more than just placing a bid per click that will get you in the top position. It’s also important that your website’s “quality score” is up to par. Without a great quality score,
All Categories:
- Basic SEO (19 articles)
- Online Marketing Tips (18 articles)
- Off Page SEO (13 articles)
- Social Media Marketing (12 articles)
- Seo Product Reviews (4 articles)
- SEO News (6 articles)
- SEO Content Creation (14 articles)
- SEO Programming Topics (14 articles)
- How to Avoid SEO Pitfalls (9 articles)
- SEO Outsourcing (6 articles)
- How to Get More Traffic (10 articles)
- Advanced SEO Strategies (2 articles)
