Meta Tag Tips

A Few General Guides

• Know what your topic is.
• You will need meta tags on every main page of your site. On every page is ideal, but you can work on that after the main pages are completed.
• The tags on each page need to be created specifically for that page.
• Familiarize yourself with the keywords and descriptions of competitors sites ranking well in the search engines.
• Work your chosen keywords into your text, as near the top of your page as possible.

Need help understanding what you should use for keywords or description in your meta tags?

Choosing Your Keywords

You need to choose your keywords. After you have chosen your keywords, the next step is to work them into your text. You want each keyword to appear 4 - 6 times on the page, beginning as near the top as possible. (You can read more in my ramblings below.)

WoW! Yes, that's what I said. Work your keywords in. If your sight is all about selling deer skin gloves. You have got to work deer, gloves, gift and deer skin into your text. Of course, you can use a catchy phrase right up at the top to get them in there the first time. From there, it's only going to get more difficult. But I have faith in you, I know you can do it!

Do not use them more than 6 times thinking that more the better. NO! The bots could consider that spamming them (the bots).

Can I put them in the alternate text for my images?

Yes, you can do that, but only for 5 and 6, never the first 4. Many of the engines do not pay attention to the alternate text. So to be safe, you still need each keyword within the text of your page.

How big should my page be?

The text on your page should be at least 2 folds. By that I mean, the scroll bar should be less than 1/2 the length of the window. If it is that long, and doesn't have too many images, it should be long enough, without being too long.

Do you know how the bots will read your page?

It would be very easy to assume they read your page the same way your visitors do. NOT! They read the HTML code. This means if you have used a table layout. (something like the table below)

This is a fairly typical page layout. When the search engine bots come to index your site, they will "read" the first column first, then the center column where your content resides. It may be a good idea to change your layout a bit. Yes, I know, this three column layout has been standard for a long time. And nobody else has specifically told you to get rid of those links in the left column. Until now.

It is widely recognized that the bots only read a specific number of characters before they believe they have a good idea about your site content. Then they move on.

They follow your links

Choose your links wisely on your pages. Trade links with similar sites, this makes you appear to be a very popular site. At the same time, you do not want to loose the bots while they are indexing your site. I like to think of the bots as spiders with extra legs (many are called spiders) they can reach in many directions, seemingly at the same time. But all spiders only have a certain number of legs, and when they are all busy, whatever is left, is not indexed. This time. It may well be indexed on the bots next trip through, but then again...maybe not.

Don't let what is left-over be YOUR own site content. Don't let it be your internal links. Make sure you take care of you first. Then supply links to your competitors sites. That brings me to link exchange banners. Don't put them on the top. You NEED that space! Agree to 1/2 way down or on the bottom, but never give them the top!