QUICK GUIDE
Site description, keywords and META tags
For the indie business owner
Last updated 1.09.08
I. Meta Tags & Keywords
· A META tag is just another term for KEYWORD(S) which resides in the HTML code on your home page. For purposes of simplification the term META tag is really a HTML code snippet that precedes your keywords.
<META name="keywords" content=”blah, blah, blah”>
For the purposes of simplifying this document we will only use the term KEYWORD(S).
Keywords are used for search engines to quickly understand what your site is about and then relate your site to other similar sites for quick Internet searching.
· Site description also resides in your HTML code and is utilized in search engines as the description of your site when you are found through organic searching.
· Organic searching is a term used for when a person types in a search term and finds your site link in the search results. Not a paid link.
Search engines crawl (read) your site and quickly index (catalog) your site using your keywords and refer to them for quick searching. Think of a library card catalog and that is what is digitally being produced by the search engine from this information.
Your keywords are an enhancement to your site description and should be thought in terms of “summarizing” your site one word at a time.
II. Quick Rules
· Site Description – Should not be longer then 250 characters.
<META name="description" content="Miami Florists create beautiful floral bouquets, arrangements, tributes and displays for all occasions, including weddings, Valentines Day, parties and corporate events. Deliveries throughout Florida.">
· Keywords – Your site should have no more then 400 characters as keywords.
III. Creating your Keywords & Site Description
· When you sit down to create these two items you need to think in terms of them being closely related. Mother, father and child in the same family.
· Each word you choose as being the most descriptive of your site/products should be in your SITE DESCRIPTION and KEYWORDS.
· Additionally, your keywords should be present as much as possible in the text of your site such as product descriptions, product names, etc.
Exercise:
· Sit down with a plane piece of white paper and pen.
· Think about your products and website and ask yourself the following questions
o What category of products do I sell?
§ Category is defined as something like “jewelry” or “art”. A broad descriptive term that encompasses your products or services.
o What “types” of products or services do I sell?
§ If you sell jewelry what types of jewelry? Earrings, necklaces, bracelets, toe rings, fashion jewelry or fine jewelry
o Who do I PRIMARILY sell to? Women, men, kids, soccer moms, bikers, etc.
· Note: Unless your site gets a lot of traffic you will never compete for top search engine placement against other larger sites that have more traffic on broad terms such as “jewelry”. Instead it is important to think of your “niche”, what do you really specialize in or is there a very specific audience you sell too? Example; “I sell toe rings to Christian motorcyclists and clubs in Texas.”
· From the questions above you should have a list of words that are very important to your business. (Remember no more then 400 characters)
o Jewelry
o Necklaces
o Earrings
o Bracelets
o Toe Rings
o Fashion Jewelry
o Women
o Motorcyclists
o Texas
· Now, the search engines will use these keywords as broad search terms and they should be placed in your html code as follows;
<META name="keywords" content="jewelry, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, ……….">
· If you have the ability to name your individual site pages you should include your keywords in the name. For instance a page on your site might look like this;
http://www.yourcompany.com/necklaces/gold-quartz-necklace.html
Notice “gold-quartz-necklace.html” includes at least one key word and is also descriptive of what that page contains.
IV. Ultimate Search Engine Optimization
· While some webmasters remember to include a Site Description and Keywords in their home page HTML code, many forget to include the important TITLE TAG and keywords on every page of the site that they want indexed. Or worse, they duplicate the homepage site description and same keywords on all other pages. To give a web site the best ranking possible, it is highly recommended that each page of the site include a unique TITLE tag
<head>
<title>
A wonderful
gold quartz gemstone necklace makes the perfect gift for women of all ages</title>
</head
o Limit your title tags to 66 characters.
· You will also want to include unique META tags, individually tailored to the content of that specific page.
<META name="keywords" content = “necklace, gold, gift, women”>
· If you don’t have the time to add your TITLE tags and keywords to every page on your site then carefully choose a few. Some is better then none.
THE END
I am not an HTML guru or Search Engine genie and while I believe the contents of this document to be true based on my individual research. I do not take responsibility for their accuracy and/or if any outside entity makes changes to the contents of this document.
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