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Meta tags. Hidden labels that increase your rankings and your sales.
by Katherine Andes
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in my ezine. Her expertise and personality shine through. It's a
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"Go check out Katherine Andes' website and sign up for her newsletter. Each week she sends out a newsletter which comprises a singe, short tip. She writes well, and briefly. She isn't asking her readers to devote much time to her newsletter, and she always shares something useful ... one smart tip a week, every week."
Nick Usborne, Author Net Words
Peter Bowerman, Author, The Well Fed Writer
"Go check out Katherine Andes' website and sign up for her newsletter. Each week she sends out a newsletter which comprises a singe, short tip. She writes well, and briefly. She isn't asking her readers to devote much time to her newsletter, and she always shares something useful ... one smart tip a week, every week."
Nick Usborne, Author Net Words
One very neglected area that most companies ignore with their
websites are the meta tags -- the hidden labels for your web pages that
only search engines read. By writing and optimizing the meta tags for
each of your web pages, you can drive more traffic to your site.
If you don't write your own title and description meta tags, the search engine will pick up whatever it likes in the content of your pages to describe them. But if you do write your own meta tags, there is a good chance your descriptions will be displayed in the search results.
However, I can't guarantee that because with search engines no one cannot guarantee anything.
That being said, I am amazed at how few people know how to tap into the hidden power of their meta tags. I regularly look up the source codes of website pages, and the meta tags are misused, underused, or even non-existent. This means that when someone does a search, the resulting descriptions aren't as good as they should be.
For example: Look at this search result when I typed in "furniture."
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The unique thing about this store is that its products are green and eco-friendly. Yet that description is not in the headline title. And the description below is simply a laundry list that barely mentions the green benefits of the company.
If you wished to rewrite the meta tags for this company, you would go into the Properties section of the website builder and you would enter something like this in the three boxes available.
REVISED TITLE: Eco-Friendly Furniture | Green Furniture | Eco Furniture
EXPLANATION: This title will show up in the snippet on search results pages and at the top of the browser window. It's not a fantastic headline, but it contains the three top keywords for searchers who want environmentally friendly furniture. This title does not have to be the same as the headline of the page. So your actual page headline can be written more dynamically. Use about 60 characters with spaces.
REVISED DESCRIPTION: Reduce your carbon footprint with our stylish eco-friendly furniture. Our green furniture alternatives include living room, dining room, bedroom ...
EXPLANATION: This is written to show the reader the personal benefit of the product. It includes two of the keywords in the Title Tag. It also includes parts of secondary keywords: living room, dining room, and bedroom. Use about 155 characters with spaces.
REVISED KEYWORDS: [green furniture, eco furniture, eco-friendly furniture, living room furniture, dining room furniture, bedroom furniture]
EXPLANATION: The above keyword field should actually be left blank. None of the major search engines use the keyword meta tag field any longer. And I recommend you leave it blank to help prevent competitors from spying on your keyword strategy. However, you need to know for your own purposes which keywords you are optimizing a page for.
If the above meta tags were to be implemented, this company's search results would look something like this when someone typed in "furniture.
Eco-Friendly Furniture | Green Furniture | Eco Furniture
Reduce your carbon footprint with our stylish eco-friendly furniture. Our green furniture alternatives include living room, dining room, bedroom ...
www.eco-furniture.com/ - 25k - Cached - Similar - pages
When compared with the original, you can see that the revised title will help readers quickly understand the uniqueness of the company from other furniture stores, and the description will be more compelling to get users to actually click on the link and visit the page.
By writing and optimizing the meta tags well, you help the searcher find what he is looking for. You also "optimize" the prospects clicking on your site by qualifying them.
Last, but not least, by carefully writing your meta tags, the search engines will know exactly what each page is about and your rankings will improve.
