When you’re looking at the different areas to optimise on your web page, there are a lot of things to do. Meta tags have long been an SEO standard optimisation point, but the keyword meta tag has fallen off the map a little. There are a couple of reasons not to bother with the keyword meta tag, but there is at least one strong reason to leave it firmly alone.
Of course, the main argument against optimising your keywords meta tag is that it has absolutely no effect on the way Google ranks your site. The effect of the keywords meta tag was the subject of debate for a long time, but really should be no more. It was evident from as early as several years ago that Google no longer took the keywords meta tag into account, and if any doubt remained, Matt Cutts spoke out on the issue in early 2009. Asking the question in his blog whether Google ever uses the tag in search rankings, he answered: “In a word, no.”
Google is not always to be trusted about whether a particular element is as important to Google as it is to SEO professionals. There are many times it pays to take Google at its word, and this really seems to be one of them. It makes sense that such an easily manipulated tag shouldn’t count for much. As Cutts pointed out, the keyword meta tag is an area that is simply too open to abuse for search engines to trust it. Due to too many instances of misleading keywords in the tag, Google decided to ignore it.
The hidden dangers
Even though the search engines don’t pay any attention to the tag, some SEO companies have continued to optimise it on the off chance that someone is looking. The real downside of optimising the keyword meta tag comes directly from this. Sometimes, somebody will be watching.
One of the first steps to be taken in any search engine optimisation campaign should be to analyse the sites of competitors. It’s always important to remember that while you’re looking at your competitors for weaknesses, your competitors are likely to be looking right back at you. It’s not too difficult to analyse a site and extract its keywords, but placing them all in your keywords meta tag means that you’re handing your keywords over on a platter. With no real reason to optimise this tag, it’s probably better just to leave it.
As with anything to do with search engine optimisation, it can be a good idea to consult a professional when you’re uncertain about the issue of meta tags. You can talk to our experts at SEO Consult Australia.
Don’t ignore meta tags completely
Just because the keyword meta tag is a wash-out, it doesn’t mean that all meta tags are worthless. On the contrary, Google provides a list of the meta tags it does pay attention to, and it pays for every site owner to do so. It can be a simple, yet effective, touch.
