Why Using Meta Tags Are Still Worth The Effort

Hi,
If you read the predictions about SEO on popular websites like SEOmoz, the first thing that comes up on the list of "things not to do in 2011" is not to use Meta tags.

Unlike this popular belief, using Meta tags can be really beneficial for your website's ranking. Using them does not improve page's rank on search engines. It helps in an indirect manner.

The function of a Meta tag has several other benefits. Read on to know more about their importance.

1. Adding them to a web page is similar to using keywords for a particular page. If your page has misspellings of product names, brands etc. A Meta tag can show your page on the search engine. If you are using a content management system or CMS, it can help you with tagging the page. You may refer to the list of keywords on your database for what phrases to use.

2. There are a number of directories, free indexes and search engines, apart from Google, on the Internet. They often pull out the meta tags added to websites to list or index a particular page. Sites with tags show up more on these search engines as compared to sites which do not have them. There are times we are unable to submit our website to several directories. It is beneficial if our website shows up without making any effort.

3. There are times when we don't want to stuff our content with too many keywords. It becomes very drab to read. We always want our content to convey a message to our readers. If it is about a product, we don't want repetition of the product name in the text. The content has to describe the product. Meta tags can be of huge help in such a case. We can still make our website show up on the search engine without too many keywords.

Technology is evolving very fast. We never know what technique search engines are going to use to rank pages tomorrow. Many search engines other than Google don't have the technique to crawl the whole web world. They look for Meta tags to list certain pages.

If you are using search engine optimization techniques to promote your website, using Meta tags will not hinder it in any way. You may need to put in a little extra effort. Spending 2-3 minutes extra on every page can help you in a big way.

Meta tags are not a SEO technique. They do not help in showing a particular page on a search engine. They have other very significant functions which cannot be ignored. It is important that you spend the few extra minutes to make your product or service a success.