Meta Tags

I keep hearing about Meta being a thing of the past but is this really true??? NO IT”S NOT!!!

Clickable META tags are one of the most important aspects of your site. This is because people read your meta title and determine if your site is what they are looking for.

This is why I’m going to discuss Keyword rich meta. Also see why we still need meta tags.

Keyword Rich META Tags

META tags are very important in the marketing of your website and here is why:

* Meta Tags will improve search engine rankings of your site, media, and pages

* Meta Tags help users see your search result listing as relevant to their query

* Meta Tags will become the title for your site when bookmarked

* Meta Tags help classify the page on social networks and makes it easier to find

These benefits are just the tip of the iceberg and you can’t afford to not have keyword rich META tags on your site.

Loading them full of keywords, however, doesn’t generally inspire users to visit the page, never mind bookmarking or sharing the content. That being said, there’s no research that suggests users won’t click keyword loaded results either.

Clickable META Tags Will Attract Users

If your site doesn’t look appealing in the search results, users will be enticed to visit your competitors. It’s that simple, but there are plenty more reasons to make your META tags intriguing and attention-getting:

* Titles and tags can appear in RSS feeds and email inboxes. If the tags are loaded full of keywords, they’ll likely be disregarded as spam

* Keyword rich tags don’t tell the user what the content is actually about; it just gives them a general idea. Clickable META tells users exactly what to expect when they click through.

* Tags become the titles and descriptions when content is shared on social networks. They need to be clickable enough to convince others browsing on the site to click through to your content

* Attract more targeted users and prequalify them. You’ll get much higher conversion rates and cleaner data

* Well-written tags can presell the content. And, if users are already interested in buying from you or following your call to action before they get to the page, your site design and copy is more likely to be successful.

Whether you’re just running an information site, a company providing services, or an ecommerce store, you’re in the business of attracting consumers, not search engines. And I’m sure you’d prefer they were paying consumers (sign ups, sharing, and/or monetary transactions). If you’re not going to get any sort of return, it makes your hard work sort of pointless. At the same time, if people can’t find your content, there’s no point in worrying about the conversion.

The  META Tags of Choices

Awkward keywords can often generate great traffic, but they don’t make enough sense to use in a normal sentence. You can’t have both — you have to choose one or the other — so now what do you do?

You’re in a dilemma!

To decide which way to go, ask yourself some very important questions:

* Is the page functional or informative? Some pages are created specifically to serve a purpose while others offer some kind of value or interaction. Functional pages such as ‘contact us’ and ‘about’ are only visited when the user has a very specific need. These pages are rarely interesting enough to be bookmarked or shared. In this instance, keyword rich titles are often best. Informational/interactive pages such as blog posts should put interest and value ahead of keywords. So long as the page is on topic it will still support the major keywords as well as related keywords.

* Is the query space highly competitive? If your keyword is something with very low competition, and the rest of your on-page SEO is done properly, you can likely get away without forcing keywords into your title and will likely benefit more from the clickability. With competitive spaces, however, this isn’t going to be an option.

* Will visitors already be interested in clicking through? If my brand already has a strong presence in the space, clickability likely won’t be as much of an issue as getting a particular page found for the right terms.

* Where will my paying visitors come from and where will they land? If you’re offering a service that everyone needs, but doesn’t know about (they don’t search for it by name), chances are your main pages and keywords aren’t going to generate as many conversions as long tail phrases and topics. However, complementary industries and vendors (who are more likely to link to you) will be more likely to link back to main pages and be using major keywords. So, I’d be more inclined to use keyword heavy tags for main functional pages, and clickable titles for the rest.

What have you experienced when choosing between clickable and keyword rich titles? Do you have any tips to share?

Article Contributor: Site-reference.com.  They are an excellent source for SEO information. The topic and debate of Meta Tags is always on the table but I agree they are still needed.

Bottom Line we still need Meta Tags