Meta Keywords
-
Hello Everyone-
Quick question about meta keywords. Most SEO's agree that meta keywords are no longer used as a ranking factor in Google.
My question is, if a client comes to me and they already have a bunch of meta keywords on their site what would the smart strategy be?
1. Remove all the meta keyword data from the clients site
2. Scale the meta keywords back by only leaving the top keywords in the code?
3. Do nothing
Thanks for all your time!
Regards,
Bill Parlaman
-
Google + Bing + Yahoo + Ask = over 98% of search engine traffic in the US. What the other search engines do is irrelevant in my opinion. I am not aware of any search engine which uses meta keywords.
As far as search engines changing their minds, it is entirely possible but highly unlikely. Meta keywords go directly against everything Google has worked towards...showing the same content to the public as to the search engine. The public does not see the meta keywords tag.
This is a very minor detail, and you can go either way. Since you brought the topic up, I will stand by my original recommendation that this unnecessary code be removed from the site.
-
Google is clear they absolutely do not use meta keywords (see Matt Cutts video). If the keywords are spammy and useless, I'd clean it up. If the keywords are valid, I might consider removing them to make it harder on new competitors to figure out what this site owner thinks are valuable. End of the day, I agree that you could simply do nothing, but I tend to clean up and/or delete.
-
I would leave them because search engines change their mind on many things.
-
Ugh...double posted...and it won't let me delete.
-
I would agree with EGOL and just leave them there and do nothing. While I don't go to the trouble of adding new keywords to my site, I don't bother removing them if they are there. I can't see that they are doing any harm.
However, there is something in my head that remembers reading that some search engines still use meta keywords...is this true?
-
I would recommend option 1. Remove the meta keyword tag from the site, while following EGOL's advice of including your client in the loop.
Those words offer ZERO value. You and I both know that. It is a best practice of coding, and I would suggest good SEO, to remove unnecessary code. This is especially important when that code appears on every page of the site.
I would be less worried about competitors trying to see what words you are targeting. Any good SEO will know those words have no effect, and they will also be able to look at the page itself, or click a button on a page tool, to understand what key words you are targeting.
-
I would be inclined to do #3. Nothing.
That option requires no work and you will not need to worry about client seeing that they are removed and coming to you with concerns.
If you are inclined to do #1 then I would mention it to client before they are removed. Possible reasons to remove might be to reduce the amount of code on the page and some people think that meta keywords can be used by competitors to see what rankings you are thinking about.
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
-
How Does Google Webmaster Tools Come Up with Content Keywords?
When I look at Google Webmaster Tools, in the Content Keywords report there are a couple of ones that are suspect - "prescription", "medications", and "viagra" which are completely unrelated to the content of the site. When I click on the content keyword, and search the source code for those pages, I don't see those words in the source code. Can someone please help me figure out why Google thinks that these keywords are associated with these pages, and how to correct it?
On-Page Optimization | | bernardablola0 -
I have seen zero movement in my Google keyword rankings.
I have seen zero movement in my Google keyword rankings, but I have seen movement on the other search engines. I must be doing something wrong. Any tips?
On-Page Optimization | | LindaWolfe0 -
What is the best way to change keywords?
I have a client who is moving and I'll need to redirect their site to a new city. Taking local out of the picture, what is the best way to convert the site? Here are somethings I've already done. Changed the title keywords Ensured the page grade is an A for the new keywords. Changed the alt tags on images on the front page. Since I made these changes, the website has actually fallen in ranks from what it was initially ranking for the new city (the website was already ranking organically on page 2 and has dropped to mid page 3.) Thanks in advance
On-Page Optimization | | jonnyholt0 -
Meta Description Question
Hi, Lets say you have a 1000 pages, is it ok to generate a template meta description and flip the keywords depending on the page? For example: Red Shoes page: Buy Red Shoes at amazing prices. We have a large range of Red Shoe sizes available. Blue Shoes page: Buy Blue Shoes at amazing prices. We have a large range of Blue Shoe sizes available. Thoughts?
On-Page Optimization | | Bondara0 -
Keywords in Navigation
Hi, What is best practice for main navigation links with regards to use of keywords in them. For example is it best to using the phrase 'Pricing", "Website Pricing" or "Website Design Pricing" To me 'Pricing' is more appropriate because to the user they know they are on a website designer's site so what else would pricing be for right?! Furthermore you use less 'real estate' on the nav bar! There is on page text around the site which has links to "see our website design pricing" etc so I assume that is perhaps a more natural place to include that phrase? Look forward to your insights 🙂
On-Page Optimization | | NeilD0 -
Does the keyword meta tag not matter anymore?
In the SeoMoz report generated, it recommended removing the meta keywords tag as it was no long relevant? why is google no longer considering this?
On-Page Optimization | | mancmusicman0 -
Location in keyword terms
I'm optimizing a website for a dentist and I'm looking for the best approach to incorporating the location into the keyword terms. For example if a dental practice in Boston has a page on Cosmetic Dentistry what would be the best approach for optimizing for "Boston Cosmetic Dentist", "Boston Teeth Whitening" and "Cosmetic Dentist in Boston"? How should I handle the repetition of the location name? Will I get the best results by using the full keyword terms several times on the page "example a" or will "example b" provide similar results? Title Tag: a) Boston Cosmetic Dentist | Boston Teeth Whitening | Cosmetic Dentist in Boston
On-Page Optimization | | OptioPublishing
b) Boston Cosmetic Dentist | Teeth Whitening H1
a) Boston Cosmetic Dentist | Boston Teeth Whitening | Cosmetic Dentist in Boston
b) Boston Cosmetic Dentist | Teeth Whitening keywords to sprinkle through content
a) Boston Cosmetic Dentist, Boston Teeth Whitening, Cosmetic Dentist in Boston
b) Boston Cosmetic Dentist, Teeth Whitening etc... It's important to rank for all 3 keywords but the pages would be flooded with the words Dentist and Boston if I use each phrase exactly. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance,
Jason0 -
How many keywords / phrases can you SEO for?
Might sound like a bit of a daft question to you pro's but here it goes... I am been doing in house SEO for a company for a short while and since I have been managing it things have moved quickly in the right direction but I find myself limiting our SEO efforts to three key terms. Is this usual? The reason I am doing this is because I find that on page SEO is only really possible with those amount of terms (with regards to title, description, key word density, seo copy, on page links etc). I guess that what I trying to stay is: If I push on page opitimastion to more key terms will it be detrimantal to our current efforts? and Is SEO possible for additional key phrases which are not on page optimised?
On-Page Optimization | | RikkiD220