meta tags: useful or a joke?

a lot of the smaller search eangines out there still worries about this.

I know the meta tag for the page description is still important. If you have a meta description Google will use that for the text that it displays under your title in their search results page.

Now I don't know if it does anything for your ranking (probably not), but that text can be useful in getting people to click on your link versus a competitor.

Look at it as a conversion tactic.

In Internet marketing, and particularly SEO, you should be very wary of anyone who makes categorical statements. Especially when those statements are about Google.

The fact is that nobody really knows.

What IS 'known' is that Google SAY they don't take any notice of the keywords meta tag. I emphasize SAY because Google have a track record of saying one thing and doing another.

Having said that, there is probably little or no SEO benefit to spending a long time crafting a keyword-stuffed meta tag. There MAY be a benefit, however, in simply putting one or two primary keywords in there. Why? Because even if none of the search engines use the data today, who is to say that they won't use it tomorrow. Algorithms change all the time and we generally have no idea what is making a difference at the margin.

And if someone comes up with real proof in two years time that pages with keyword meta tags on them rank better you would kick yourself if you'd assumed that putting it on the thousands of pages you may have built by then was 'a joke'. Especially as that joke takes such little time and effort to tell.

The article referenced in the OP seems to suggest that both the keywords and the description meta tags are a waste of time. That is patently false because you can prove that Google are reading the description tag - that's where they prefer to get the snippet they use to describe your page in their listings.

There is no evidence that the description tag gives you any ranking advantage, but it sure as anything helps to draw attention to your page wherever it does get ranked.

It seems that Google prefer to use the description meta IF it includes the primary keyword for the page. If not, they will pick a random snippet from you page text that does include the keyword or phrase - as far as possible.

This can lead to some weird listings - as we all know.

To some extent you can control that by crafting a good description meta - one that includes your primary keyphrase and, in a natural writing style, common derivations of it.

As I said at the beginning, anyone claiming to be an 'expert' on what Google do or don't do, and who gives you concrete, black & white instructions about what will or won't rank your pages is stretching their own reputation thinly and quite probably is looking to sell you something.

And, although I'm not trying to sell you anything, I include my observations in that disclaimer as well.

Martin

I agree. I posted earler on a topic about cloaking affiliate links. When you find a hotly debated topic such as this, evelauate the downside if you do it versus the possible downside if you don't. Go down the 'better safe than sorry' route.

I don't know what the senior Google engineers and executives think on this matter but, as it seems there is no penalty for including meta tags, then I will put some in. Why not?

In the same way as I cloak affiliate links, if the jury is out on the subject and it only takes a couple of seconds to do, then I will do it.

Yeah, but I could care less about scoobydoobot.

Search engines won't penalize you either if you add the
words: "I love ice cream."

You shouldn't do anything just because.

If people were told to concentrate 100% on what matters,
these threads would not keep popping up.

This thread was about meta description and keywords, not various
other html.

When one looks at logic, and google, and puts two and two
together, there is no way a viable algorithm is going to give results
based on someone's chosen keywords and description.

Now about scoobydoobit, well, I don't want scoobydoo results.

Paul

Google didnt read meta descriptions or meta keywords (for seo purposes) for mroe than 2 years. Make a nice 160 character description to grab your potential customers attention though.