How many keywords should I have in meta tag?

Using the Right Amount of Keywords in a Meta Tag

The question of how many keywords should be used in a meta tag needs to be answered in several parts. Businesses and individuals that run web sites need to learn about different tags available on individual web pages. The meta tag itself is a line of code invisible to users that dictates certain page functions including font, content warnings and formatting. This tag is less important to SEO-conscious website owners than the meta description tag and meta keyword tag.

Everyone who uses Google, Yahoo and other search engines is familiar with the meta description tag. This tag appears below each link in a search results page as a description for the website’s content. There are diverging schools of thought on inserting keywords into the description tag. One group of designers thinks that using three to five keywords available in the website’s content pages helps raise page rankings. Other designers feel that the effort required to insert key phrases into meta description tags could be better spent on developing organic SEO material.

The major problem with using the meta description tag is that some search engines will provide their own descriptions for web sites. Search engines like Google will pull the first few sentences from a website’s main page to maintain uniformity in description size. These policies put the onus of keyword development on page content instead of clever uses of keywords in meta tags.

Another meta tag available to website operators interested in optimization is the meta keyword tag. This text is a secondary description of the website that is used by some search engines to coordinate results for keyword searches. Any website designer interested in passive methods of raising search engine results should use one or two important words from a website to adhere to search engine preferences.

One of the recent trends by search engine operators is the refinement of crawlers to index and list web sites more effectively. Search engines are moving away from exclusive keyword searches in favor of more complex formulas for page rankings including backlink volume and relevance to search terms. Yahoo and Ask.com still pick through meta tags for optimized keywords while Google and Microsoft Live have moved away from these tags as a prioritization tool.

The insertion of keywords into meta tags has less to do with frequency of use than the importance of each word. Search engine users have become savvy enough to see through “black hat” SEO tricks like keyword stuffing that try to trick searchers into heading to questionable web sites. Website designers and businesses need to make sure that their meta tags reflect their content pages. The meta tag should have one instance of the top two to three keywords to ensure that the tag is readable. It is appropriate for SEO consultants to use additional key phrases if they have unconventional spellings or represent niche products. The rule of thumb for keywords in meta tags is to use them gently instead of bludgeoning consumers with stiff-sounding language.

How many keywords should i have in meta?
How many keywords in meta tag?
How many keywords should I use in backlinks?

How many keywords should you use in BACKLINKS?

Natural Search Engine Optimization

How many keywords should I have in meta tag?

How many keywords should i have in meta?How many keywords in meta tag?How many keywords should I use in backlinks?

How many keywords should you use in BACKLINKS?

Natural Search Engine Optimization

How many keywords should i have in meta?
How many keywords in meta tag?
How many keywords should I use in backlinks?