I thought META KEYWORDS tag was dead?
-
http://www.wpkube.com/wordpress-seo-plugin/ this article just came out as a one of the many guides to Yoast's Wordpress SEO. I am surprised it mentioned:
- Use meta keywords tag: Google reportedly doesn’t use the keywords that your enter for your posts but as Google isn’t the only show in town, you might want to check this box.Recommendation: check
-
I stopped using meta keywords tag because Google doesn't use it any more, plus if you are in a competitive field by using keywords you are giving free keyword research to your competitors? Does any one still use meta keywords here? If so why?
-
Google doesn't use keyword tags, has anyone experienced a dis-benefit to meta-keywords tag from Google ie. dropped rankings etc.?
-
I read that Bing looks at the keyword tag to make sure there's nothing spammy going on. Ignore it and you'll avoid raising any red flags.
Mike
-
"I'd have to quit my job and just drink full-time."
You say that like it's a bad thing?!
Paul
-
Dr. Pete,
"at least one major search engine used META keywords as a spam signal in the past" - I heard that some where as well, that is partly why the question was asked
...Safe to assume some search engines still use it as a spam signal?
-
Oh meta keywords, curse you and your inevitable betrayal.
-
OK, now I am confused... Scientist vs sense of humor (and a good one at that). But, how can this be???? For he is the Kwisatz Haderach!!!
Good one Pete.
-
Pete, you crack me up:)
-
That's the kind of study I don't do because I'm secretly afraid it might work and then I'd have to quit my job and just drink full-time.
-
Dr. Pete,
While I agree with what you have here, I am disappointed that you are unwilling to set up a single variable study of some type focusing on the aftereffects of putting the wrong keyword meta tags in to trap the lazy, unrepentant, claimers of SEOdom, etc.
I would love to see how many cosmetic surgery sites that do liposuction would end up ranked for Saw2 barbequed ribs! as a long tail keyword!!!
If anyone can do it, you can do it. We believe in you!
Best to you and the team!
-
One warning - not to derail the discussion, which is amazing - I'm as sure as is reasonably possible that at least one major search engine used META keywords as a spam signal in the past, and I'd bet it's still corroborating evidence for Google. Probably goes without saying, but if you use it - use it well. Just because it's not a positive ranking factor doesn't mean it's not a negative ranking factor.
I agree that the competitor aspect never bothered me. Hopefully, you also use your keywords in your actual content. Otherwise, what's the point?
-
I'm working from home today and trying not to wake up my husband because I'm laughing so hard. Time to move downstairs before I read any more replies!
-
I read somewhere that BING use the keyword tag as a spamming signal. Anyone else see that?
EDIT: Read that here:
http://www.semrush.com/blog/tips/the-myths-behind-meta-keywords/
-
Thanks for your input Tom, that sounds right. Now just curious, has anyone experienced a benefit?
-
I have seen no drop in placement with my projects that have no kw tags on Google, Bing or yahoo.
-
They don't call you clever for no reason
-
@Ron and others,
I am just looking for some evidence from those that use keywords to see if they help. Example maybe someone has found that some search new search engine, like duckduckgo, topsy, etc that uses meta keywords for example and they see keywords helping them get traffic from those places. Otherwise why not is not a good enough reason for me, as its extra work to add keywords without benefit, plus it looks SEO 1.0 (think html tables, static pages) vs SEO 2.0 to me.
Thanks for adding bit of FUN to this thread BTW
-
one of the first things I look at to judge an SEO on is whether or not they have 50 keywords per page with meta tags.
--Yup that's one of the things I look at as well
-
The keyword meta tag is alive and well, they just call it the meta title nowadays
-
I put key words in as it cannot hurt. If it gets a few more leads per year why not :). As far as the previous string goes I think these comments are truly silly as there are many good tools to figure out the key words you are targeting without the meta key words. So if "why not" is a good enough justification then you should do it.
-
UPDATE: wordpress all in one seo pro has the same thing keyword siggestion.......
-
Funny thread!
how would you respond to this?
Customer "Q#1" why didn't you write keyword tags for my website.....? " give proper answer"
Q#2... If Google does not care about my keyword tags than why is it listed here "cache:domain. com" ?
-
Actually, I laughed my a__ off when I wrote it.
-
barbequed ribs
OMG! Oh, I am laughing so hard I will have to wash my glasses.
-
Uh?
-
I am going to start putting the wrong keywords in. So on a physician site for lipo, my keywords will be: Saw 2, barbequed ribs, Halloween 3, Dexter, cannibals, etc.
Can't wait to see that competitor rank now!
Thanks EGOL!
-
Well........ if you are ranking well, they are going to try to use what you are using. Again, they are lazy and they are certainly not smart so kudos to EGOL.
-
**Anybody who is lazy enough to harvest that info is lazier than smart. Not a threat. And, I believe in the theory that imitators come in second. **
Bravo. A competitor is gonna look at those 5-20 meta keywords and do what?
-
We prefer to make our client's competitors do their own work and break a sweat.
I fill that tag with BS. That'll fix those lazy weasels.
No, honestly... I still use meta keywords.
When I write an article I write the title tag first.... "Begin with the end in mind." Then I write the meta keywords. Makes me think about where I am going.
Anybody who is lazy enough to harvest that info is lazier than smart. Not a threat. And, I believe in the theory that imitators come in second.
..... and.... I bet Google is using meta keywords and counting those nofollow links it's their "reverse psychology" algo to screw SEOs. (Of course they are not counting blog and forum spam and sitewides... but nofollow links that appear to be editorially given - such as wikipedia citations - are counted at 5x the normal rate)
-
Vadim
As to using it there is no negative effect re Google. The reason most do not use it is that since Google does not, why would you put the keywords in and make it easy on those who want to know what you are targeting?
We prefer to make our client's competitors do their own work and break a sweat. (Also, if I am honest, one of the first things I look at to judge an SEO on is whether or not they have 50 keywords per page with meta tags.)
Hope that helps,
best
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
We are ranking for unexpected industry keywords; not for the main keywords. What might be wrong?
Hi all, Our company falls into a SaaS industry LIKE seo. We used to rank for our industry keywords just like seo, seo software, etc... We have fallen out of rankings for these obvious top keywords with high search volume, but ranking for these 2 keywords like seo homepage and seo website. I think we have some strong ranking authority at Google by ranking for our industry keywords "homepage" and "website" which represents a very relevant site to the industry. But not sure why we are not ranking for top keywords. Any thoughts on this?
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz1 -
What date tags are required/best to use for articles or other landing pages?
Does anyone have suggestions on which date tag(s) are most important to use and how to use them on the frontend? (i.e. dateModified, dateCreated, and datePublished). The Structured Data Testing Tool is coming up with errors for my article pages, but I'm a bit confused which ones should be in the code vs. showing on the frontend.
Algorithm Updates | | ElsaT0 -
Do pages with canonicals need meta data?
Page A has a canonical to Page B. Should Page A have meta data values such as description, keywords, dublin core values, etc.? If yes, should the meta data values be different on Page A and Page B?
Algorithm Updates | | Shirley.Fenlason1 -
Google is simplifying my meta titles. What does it mean?
Hi Guys. I've noticed that google seems to be simplifying my meta titles in their SERP for some keyword searchs. Should I be worried about this? Perhaps a sign of being a little 'spammy' in my meta titles? Or is Google just aiming to bring up the most relevant looking result? Based on that specific search? Isaac.
Algorithm Updates | | isaac6630 -
Keyword Stuffing - Where Do You Draw the Line?
I have a tax software website for which there a multiple pages that compete using different keywords. However, all pages but my home page have recently fallen out of the rankings completely and I really just don't know why. For instance, my page - http://www.1099pro.com/prod1099proEnt.asp - has the title keywords "1099 Efile Software | 1099 Software | 1099 Electronic Filing". When I run a Moz report on the keyword "1099 E-File Software" I get an "A" rating and it finds a total of 8 instances of the keyword. However, when I run a Moz report on the keyword "1099 Software" it finds a total of 26 instances of the keyword - still with an "A" rating. When I search the actual text/html there are only 6 instances of the keyword "1099 software" which leads me to believe that Moz/Google/Search Engines are ignoring the middle term in words like "1099 printing software" or "1099 e-filing software" and only picking up "1099 software". Is this supposed to be happening? Does anyone know why or how many terms can be ignored in that fashion? I used to have multiple landing pages in the top 3 results and now all of my other landing pages have completely fallen from the rankings even though I am not keyword stuffing and am providing unique & relevant content. If anyone has an idea as to why my rankings have dropped so drastically I would really appreciate it (I take no part in black-hat link building so that isn't the reason).
Algorithm Updates | | Stew2220 -
Queries vs Keywords
Can anyone clarify why my list of queries from google webmaster tools varies so much from the keywords that have resulted in clicks? I have a site that, according to Google analytics, has had clicks from 125 key phrases where as in webmaster tools (via analytics) allegedly only 17 queries have resulted in clicks. Is it becuase GA can't handle less than 5 clicks from the webmaster data or is it something else I am missing? The site I am researching for has very little traffic from other search engines.
Algorithm Updates | | SoundinTheory0 -
Dropped off cliff for a partic keyword & can't find out why
At the beginning of Dec we ranked consistently in the top 3 for the keyword 'Suffolk' for the site www.suffolktouristguide.com (apge rank 4, thousands of quality inboud links, site age 5 years +). Since then we've been falling off a cliff and today aren't even in the top 50 for this search term, but most of our othr search terms are unaffected. Our SEOMoz grade remains A for 'Suffolk' and we haven't changed anything in that time that could have had such a material effect (knowingly at least). A similar issue happened to my other site www.suffolkhotelsguide.com back in April and it hasn't recovered despite grade A's on the homepage and key pages. We've checked internal broken links, page download times, external links (used the disavow tool and reconsideration request and got back 'We reviewed your site and found no manual actions by the webspam team that might affect your site's ranking in Google'); etc etc Any thoughts on what I can try next? All suggestions appreciated as I am completely stuck (& have spent a fortune on 'SEO experts' to no effect).
Algorithm Updates | | SarahinSuffolk0 -
Can I check the rank of a keyword over time ?
Is there any tools available that allows users to track ranking of a keyword in SERP over time ? I know the question can be a bit confusing so here is an example that I hope makes it a bit easier to understand EXAMPLE : I am doing keyword research for say "iphones games" and I find out the current sites that rank for the term but If I want to see who ranked for the term 6 months ago or 1 year ago, is it possible ? Also can I get data of the SERP ranking history for "example.com" for the term "iphones games" ? eg : in jan 2011 rank 10 feb 2011 rank 7 ... sep 2011 rank 5
Algorithm Updates | | avant_seomoz0