Lately, I’ve had people asking me questions about the meta keyword tag. It’s dead. It’s been dead for years, yet I have a hard time getting this across to people.
Back in the old days of the web, the search algorithms were simple and the meta keyword tag was offered as a way for webmasters to let search engines know what their site was about.
It was simple. People liked meta tags, and they were easy to fill in with related data.
Unfortunately, spammers took advantage and started stuffing the keyword tag with unrelated words that they thought people would search for on the internet. If they thought people would search for “healthy hair,” then they would add that into their keyword tags even if their site was really about cars.
Spammers sometimes want traffic even if it’s junk traffic. I have no idea how this really helps their sites. To each his or her own.
What do you use instead?
Instead, you can start by become an SEO expert, writing stellar content or hiring an SEO copywriter. Content is king, my friends, and it’s hard to go wrong with quality content that people want to read.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmm…they wanted traffic for traffic’s sake? Perhaps they had impression ads on their sites, so any traffic was good for them. Just a thought.
THis is SOOOO true. THank GOD for you saying it. Spread the word. Good stuff. CONTENT is the key. And great copy writers and editors like you are the best asset a company that’s serious about their website can have.
Fondly
stephan
This meta tag debate has been going on for a ages now. If meta tags do help, they certainly don’t help as much as some of the other tags like title and heading tag. Good post.