The Death of the Meta Tags

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Basically, meta tags are small chunks of information that can be attached to a web page. There is a keywords meta tag, outlining keywords associated with the web page, and the description meta tag that provides a description of the web page. Meta tags have been around since the very beginning of the web - and have been misused ever since.

In the beginning, search engines gave weight to keyword or description tags, but unfortunately people put lots of unrelated keywords into them (so-called search engine spamming). As a consequence, the majority of search engines nowadays ignores meta tags, because they can't afford to base their ranking on potentially false information.

The infatuation with meta tags is still alive. When we talk with clients and ask them about their current search engine strategy, almost 100% of them mention meta tags as part of their strategy. It is then on us to educate them in a way that they see the paradigm shift and understand that new actions are necessary to achieve high search engine rankings.

Based on our experience, the following are some of the most crucial factors in search engine optimization:

1. Keyword research

You need to find out what keywords or phrases people use to find a web site like yours. Is it "lobster" or "shelfish"? Is it "marketing course" or "marketing seminar"? You will want to create a target list of keywords and build your content around it.

2. Create content

After compioing your target keyword list, you need to create much high-quality content that uses these keywords. Not only will search engines like this, but your visitors will appreciate industry information that is well put together as well.

3. Improve your link popularity

You want to have other sites link to your site. Simiilar to an online vote of confidence by your peers, this will boost your link popularity. And most major search engines base their ranking on this.

4. Create keyword-rich titles

It is important to have your most important keywords appear in the web page's title. If you're a real estate company, don't use a title like "Welcome To XYZ Home Sellers", but try something more creative like "Real Estate in California - XYZ Home Sellers, 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed!". This way you will target the keyword"real estate" and even rank high for searches like "california real estate".

If you follow these simple rules, you'll already be much better off than by using meta tags. Most of the web sites operated and managed by Bloofusion don't even have meta tags - and still rank on top positions

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	Our white papers cover the online marketing sector in much greater detail: Search Engine Optimization for E-commerce Sites     Search Engine Optimization and Web 2.0     Web Design and Search Engine Optimization: Two Separate Worlds More White Papers...