Meta tags are texts used to describe a page’s content. They don’t appear on the page but only in the page’s source code to provide information about the webpage. According to Entrepreneur, meta tags don’t directly impact Google SEO rankings but can still impact a site’s SEO.
Meta tags for SEO are still important and relevant and the reasons are because it allows Google to understand your site’s content so it will appear on relevant searches, boost your keyword rankings and lastly, influence user experience.
Below are the ways how meta tags for SEO blogging can be utilized to increase your SEO ranking and boost your website views that we learned from Entrepreneur.com
- Where to put meta tags
Meta tags for SEO can be embed on different places but it is most commonly placed on five different starting points which are title tag, meta description, canonical tag, alt tag and the header tag. The title tags serve as a preview of your website and are displayed on the SERPS as a clickable headline while the meta descriptions are texts placed under the title tags and supports the title tag by adding additional information to help search engines understand the contents of the page.
Canonical tags are helpful when there are pages with identical information because it informs Google that those are two different pages to avoid being penalized. The alt tags are used for image optimization and are also called “alt attribute” or “alt description” which are applied to images to make it accessible to people and search engines while the header tags are the introductory content and helps the search engines have a better understanding about the information.
- Best practices to benefit better from meta tags
The length of meta tags are better kept short and written under 60 characters because Google usually only shows 55-64 characters and keeping it under 60 is the best option without compromising the quality of the descriptive tag. Keywords of course, are also important and using one or two important keywords and using them naturally in your tags is better than using many keywords.
Also include your logo, company name and website URL when writing your tag. Branding is important to show that the information is connected with your business. Use modifiers which helps to describe your product or service such as Review, Best, Tips, Buy and etc. make sure that your meta tags are a hundred percent unique as recommended by Google and lastly, use the exact keyword. Doing so can help people find you better on the search results.
These are the reason why meta tags for SEO are still important and ways on how to optimize them. Meta descriptions can serve as an organic ad text while the title tag can improve your search engine rankings. Having an experience in HTML can contribute a lot with implementing meta tags, and programmers or professionals aren’t necessary unless you really need their help. Remember that meta tags aren’t complicated, it just needs better understanding to properly use and benefit from it.
