Keyword Success in Search Engine Marketing:
December 19, 2005

Part 3 of 3 - Keyword Usage in Title & Meta Tags

In Parts 1 and 2 of this series on Keyword Success in Search Engine Marketing, we explored how to evaluate keywords and how to use keywords within your website text. In this article we will be showing you how to use keywords in the HTML web page code that Search Engines use to identify and evaluate your website page for keyword relevance and authority.

Search Engines look at 3 HTML tags in particular when assessing what your web page is about:

the <title> tag,
the <meta name="description"> tag, and
the <meta name="keywords"> tag

These tags should appear immediately following the opening <head> tag, and in the order shown above. SEO tech types like to debate long and loud about the necessity of the <meta name="keywords"> tag. There are still a few Search Engines that pull and use the <meta name="keywords"> tag – and it will do your site no harm to use this tag – as long as you use it correctly.

The <title> Tag

The <title> tag has 2 main Search Engine Marketing functions –

it tells the Search Engines what your web page is about, and
it is used directly by Search Engines when search results are shown.

“The <title> tag is one of the most important tools you have in organic Search Engine Marketing. Used correctly, it will not only aid Search Engines in determining the content and relevance of your web page – it will also assist searchers in finding your website.”

For example – a search in Google for the keyword – apple pie recipe shows:

The <title> tag on the first organic listing is <title>Apple Pie Recipe</tile>, and that is exactly what Google shows as the listing title on the search results page. In addition, Google has bolded all occurrences of the keywords apple, pie, and recipe – to make it easier for the searcher to find that web page that is relevant to his/her search. Most people scan a results page – and the bold text is a short hand that quickly lets them see listings that are relevant to their search.

As in anything, keywords in the <title> can be over done. A listing with the title:
<title>apple pie recipe, apple pie recipe, apple pie recipe</title> will be viewed by most searchers as a warning of a possible ‘spam’ page. This avoidance of a title with too many bold words is a learned behavior – as clicking on listings with such obviously ‘stuffed’ <title> tags usually leads to pages that are not what the searcher had in mind.

The focus of good <title> tags is to provide searchers with a link to relevant information based on their search term – not to trick them onto a totally non-relevant web page.

In most cases, it is best to have your main keyword appear at the beginning of the <title> tag – and to have your corporate name appear after the keyword where appropriate.

To make sure your <title> appears as you want it to – keep the number of characters in your <title> tag to a maximum of 63 characters (including spaces). Yes, Search Engines will store and analyze more than 63 characters in a <title> tag – but if you keep your title tags to a max of 63 characters (including spaces) you can control how it looks and not risk having the title cut off on the search results pages in the top 3 Search Engines. There are some situations however, where it will be necessary to have more that 63 characters – in those cases be very sure to put the most important keyword first – and the least relevant information (from the searcher’s perspective) at the end of the title.

Take a look at the other pages that are currently ranking well in Search Engines for the keyword you are writing the <title> tag for. How can you make your tag stand out – and still be fast and easy for the searcher to read? Longer is not necessarily better. A short title in a listing can stand out very well as we saw in our Apple Pie Recipe example above.

<meta name="description"> Tag

The <meta name="description"> tag is where you should put a good, keyword rich (but not keyword stuffed) description of your web page. Usually, Search Engines will pick up the description that they display for search results from the body of your web pages’ content – HOWEVER – it is not uncommon for the Search Engines to use the <meta description> tag as the listing description.

Keep it short – a max of 170 characters (including spaces) is ample
Use keywords – but DO NOT STUFF with keywords
Keep it easy to read
Try not to sound too promotional.
Be factual and accurate
Be relevant to the interests of your target audience

The keywords that appear in the <meta name="keywords"> tag should only be those keywords that appear in your <title> tag. Stuffing keywords into this tag is one of the main reasons it is no longer as relied upon as it was in the past by Search Engines.

To repeat - The keywords that appear in the <meta name="keywords"> tag should only be those keywords that appear in your <title> tag.

Summary

We recommend that you always complete the <meta name="description"> - with the understanding that it may be used by Search Engines to describe your web page. We also recommend correct usage and completion of the <meta name="keywords"> tag.

The <title> tag is one of the most important tools you have in organic Search Engine Marketing. Used correctly, it will not only aid Search Engines in determining the content and relevance of your web page – it will also assist searchers in finding your website.

Brenda Wright
Head Sponsored Search Strategist
Search Engine Positioning by Searchengineposition
Enquiro Full Service Search Engine Marketing
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