Some website owners don’t think that meta tag titles, descriptions, and keywords matter so much in their site rankings anymore. It is true that search engine algorithms are constantly changing in how they determine where your pages rank. I am of the old school of thinking, and prefer to stay with my current method of search engine optimization and meta data entry, at least for now.
Online businesses are growing at an alarming rate. Some will make it, and some will not. If you expect to create a website, add a few products or articles, and do nothing else but wait for the money to come rolling in, I fear you will be terribly disappointed.
Whether you have an online business or a physical brick and mortar store, there will always be competition. You have to market your business and product(s). Advertising your online business does not have to cost you a fortune. There are multiple ways to market your business without spending a nickel.
Before embarking on your free site promotion efforts, however, put some information under your belt about meta titles, descriptions, and keywords. Each page of your site, including your category, article, and product pages, should have at a minimum a meta title, a meta description, and meta keywords.
How you enter this data is based on the site builder you use or how you manage your site content. I use a site builder that allows the data to be entered on the fly as I enter categories and products.
The meta title does not need to be lengthy. It is simply a short title that will appear on the browser tab, or at least it will in the Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers. If I were creating a meta title for this article, I would make it something like “How to Use Meta Keywords, Descriptions, and Titles.” Typically, the title should indicate what the specific page is about content wise.
You also need to enter site relevant meta keywords. If you are entering a category for various products to fall under, enter keywords relevant to that particular category. The keywords used here are going to be broader in scope than those used in the product pages you create to go under these categories.
When you next add the individual products to the category, it is advisable to “drill down” into more specific keywords. When choosing them, select words you want to rank for in the search engines. Think of words shoppers might type in to find the product(s) you are selling.
There is no reason to enter a lengthy list of keywords. The search engines stop spidering the meta keyword data at around 100 characters, so choose the most prominent words to use and that is all you need to enter.
The meta description is what will appear in most search engines when your page comes up in the results. You want to enter data here that will entice the surfer to click on through to your page, so take enough time to write an eye-catching description.
There is one common mistake many web creators make. All of their pages, including category, product, and information pages, etc. all have the same meta tag information. That is the incorrect way to structure your descriptions, titles, and keywords. Consider the “meat” or content of the website itself. Is every page about the same thing? Probably not. When you start the creation of your website, have a plan; maybe even draw it out on paper. Determine what each specific area of the site is about, and structure the content accordingly.
Next, put yourself in the shoes of a shopper, and think of what might make your site information appealing enough to make them want to click through, visit your site, and make a purchase.
Your keywords should appear in your page content as well, but do not get carried away with this step. For example, do not type in your keyword 20 or 30 times on the page to help you rank for the word. This most often backfires and creates an adverse effect. Search engines are smarter than that, and this strategy will ultimately hurt your site more than it will help it.
Search engines favor high quality content that makes sense and is readable. The keyword quantity in your content should be of a certain percentage, roughly about 2-4% of your overall content, but avoid excessive keyword entry. It is best to write about your products and category information in a very natural way, not focusing on interjecting your keywords repeatedly.
