What Are Meta Tags And How Are They Used
Meta tags are HTML tags that are used to show information about a web page. There are lots of HTML tags on website and they function differently, but meta tags have nothing to do with the appearance of the page or its content. Meta tags tell the users of the website about the creator of the website, tells what each page is all about and what the website does. Meta tags also use specific keywords to make the website search engine friendly.
Due to increasing reliance of search engines, webmasters now place more emphasis on the proper use of meta tags for better search results.
Instructions
-
1
How meta tags work for a website
The HTML codes used in meta tags help the browsers get information about each page of a website. In addition to that, search engines also locate the website with the help of different keywords used in the meta tags. -
2
Types of meta tags
There are plenty of meta tags and have been used by webmasters, but three of them are believed to be the most common due to their importance to search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. The three major meta tags include title tags, meta description tags and meta keyword tags. -
3
Title tag
The most important type of meta tags is title tag. Title tag of a web page appears on the head block of each page. If you type in a keyword in Google search bar, the headline that appears at the top of each search result (of a website) is title tag. The bold headline explains the page and you click on one of the websites form search result, the information that appears on the head block of a browser (Internet Explorer, Chrome or Firefox for instance) is the title tag. Title tags are very important for search results and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts place greater emphasis on them than other tags.
In order to get better search engines results, webmasters are advised to write their title tags in a way that it covers important keywords of your industry. -
4
Meta description
Another type of meta tag is meta description. Meta description is used for search engines, not for users. When you type in a keyword in Google search bar and get results, the description that appears below the title tag is meta description. Mostly, meta description explain what a web page offers to the users. Although not as important as title tags, meta description tags still work and webmaster try to cover important keywords to improve their website search ranking on key search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.
According to experts, meta descriptions should not be longer than 150 words. If you do not use meta description for a web page, the search result of your page will still show something, usually bits from the page content, which search engine pick themselves. -
5
Meta keywords
Meta keywords have not lost their charm as major search engines do not place much importance on them. Meta keywords are specific keywords related to your website’s industry, niche or subject.
