Meta tags are data fields behind the scenes of all web pages. The most common meta tags for business web sites are the Page title, Keywords and Meta Description. Let's take a brief look at each of these elements and how having the right information for these fields can help improve search engine ranking and help your web site get more attention from online users.
1. Page Title
You are probably familiar with tabs along the top of your web browser. They enable you to have multiple web pages open at any one time. The name on the tab is determined by the Page Title given in the web page code. The Page Title is an important field and it should be related to the page content. After all, you would not want to have a page titled "Bird Houses" and have the web page actually be about cat food. The Page Title is the primary identifier for the web page. A common problem with many business web sites is that the page title is the same for all web pages. Google's Webmasters tool will identify this as a web code problem, so make sure that the Page Title web code is related to the web page content and is unique for every page on the site. Advanced web management tools will help make the page titles unique and relevant to the page content.
2. Keywords
There is some debate as to whether or not identifying keywords in the keyword meta tag of a web page does anything. Google and Yahoo have both said they pay very little attention to the keywords listed in the web page code and I think there are multiple reasons for this. I believe keyword meta tags are largely ignored by search engines because most business web sites do a poor job of identifying and listing the right keywords. Determining the right keywords for your web pages is somewhat of an art that requires research to find the right words. Just because you think this or that keyword is important - may not be what is really most often used by people on the web. Do some investigating into what people actually search for, what keywords your competitors are using and set your keyword meta tags based on factual research and not just a hunch. Then I believe your business web site meta tags will be more relevant and not ignored by search engines.
3. Meta Description
The Meta Description web code is a brief description of what the web page is about. Often, but not always, the meta description is the short detail given for search engine results. So when a web user does a search for Bird Houses, then your Bird House page would appear and the brief description under the page link will often times be the Meta Description coded into the web page. Sometimes Google will take a random snippet from the web page content as the description, so this is not a hard rule, but the meta description plays an important role in telling web users what the web page is about. A well crafted and compelling meta description is a valuable tool. Basically you have just a few seconds to catch a web users attention and get them to click on your web page link. So craft creative, simple and compelling meta descriptions for each of your business web site pages.
Conclusion
A well constructed web page is going to have the three important elements listed in this article, all coordinated. The page title is going to be relevant to the keywords, which in turn is further described by the meta description. If those three things then relate to the actual content of the web page, then your business web site is pointed in the right direction. Many midsize businesses do a poor job of making these factors sync in a logical way, so if you take the time to make these elements work together for your business web site pages, chances are good you will see improved web site performance.
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