To enter keyword meta tags or to not enter keyword meta tags?

[endlessrange]

I've been doing SEO for awhile, but new to SEOMoz.  I'm surprised that SEOMoz does not recommend keyword meta tags.

I didn't enter them for the longest time because I know Google doesn't care about them.  However, I did read that other search engines DO use them. And therefore that is why you should have them.

I teach my customers about SEO, and I know it would be much easier for them not to enter or worry about the keyword meta tags.

However, I would love to hear opinions here. And to Bing/Yahoo put any weight into them or is it only really small search engines?

Thanks!

Hilary

[Ant71]

I love it when my competitors use the keyword tag! Not sure why you want to use it even if the smaller engines use it, as the downside must outway any benefits!

[Marcus_Miller]

We like to keep this kind of thing private so that's a better option for sure. I think my 'always support the underdog' spirit wanted to find something, some use, some point to help support the lowly meta keywords tag but nope, it's time to drag that dog out into the dessert and put it out of it's misery.

[CPLDistribution]

To help with keyword management I would add a field to your CMS where you can add the keywords being targeted on a  page by page basis but then keep this content unpublished so your competitors can't see a nice list of the keywords you are targeting.

[irvingw]

this tag has been dead for a while. don't waste any time on keyword tags. if the tag is stuffed, includes words not in the page content or has intentionally misspelled keywords because you are trying to be clever, it can cause a drop in rankings.

welcome to SEOmoz, remember if someone takes the time to help you out and gives good advice, give them a thumbs up or mark it as a good answer!

[endlessrange]

Love all your answers! And good point about the code/read time.  Geez, I wish I joined SEOMoz forever ago!

Time to celebrate no longer giving a hoot about keyword meta tags

[KevinBudzynski]

Don't use them. The major search engines do not use them and by not using them, you have less code which will ultimately reduce server processing time (incrementally matters in volume).

[Alick300]

Google and any other search engine do not give any importance to meta keywords  tag.So it is better to leave this tag.

[UnderRugSwept]

It's really a matter of preference. The strongest argument for using them is that other search engines use them. The strongest argument against it is the fact that your competitors can look at them and see exactly what terms you're trying to rank for.

I don't even think yahoo or Bing take them into account anymore. I don't even know which engines do use them. i guess I'd say it's better not to use them.

[Marcus_Miller]

From a pure SEO perspective, then ditch them, they are probably not worth the effort. That said, if you have multiple people working on a site and the keywords meta tag just shows the keywords you have optimised the page for then it won't hurt anything.

So, okay from a management perspective but if this is a time sink, then drop it like a bad habit!