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Over the years Meta tags have become quite
misunderstood and usually used incorrectly on the
Internet. With the help of this document a brief
explanation of Meta tags will be given, a complete
break down of all the Meta tags that we are aware
of, and recommendations of which ones you should
or shouldn't use for your website.
What are Meta tags? This question gets asked to
us all the time. Meta tags are a snippet of
informational code that has been located between
your <HEAD>
</HEAD> tags that are apart
of your HTML document you've generated.
There are two known styles/attributes that
you'll see for Meta tags. These happen to
be: 1. <META HTTP-EQUIV="name"
CONTENT="content">
2. <META NAME="name"
CONTENT="content">
Back in the mid 90s Meta tags were developed to
assist in the rapid growth of web pages, but soon
after in the late 90s something major happened.
Many Webmasters, generally those that ran adult
orientated websites, abused the use of Keyword
Meta tags. Many unrelated keywords were placed on
their site in the Meta tag section, causing their
pornographic sites to begin appearing in search
results not related to topics such as
"Smithsonian".
Eventually the major search engines began
discontinuing the use of Meta tags for main
criteria when listing sites. Google always refused
the use of Meta tags, and now currently only will
index Google
Meta Tags. There are several searches that do
read Meta tags in their own way.
The following list of links
will take you to information about each of the
individual Meta tags that we offer information
on:
Recommended
Tags
Meta
Content Language (non-US English ONLY)
Meta
Content Type
Meta
Description
Meta
Language (non-US
English ONLY)
Optional Tags
Meta
Abstract
Meta
Author
Meta
Copyright
Meta
Designer
Meta
Google
Meta
Keywords
Meta
MSN (No ODP)
Meta
Title
Not Recommended
Tags
Meta
Content Script Type
Meta
Content Style Type
Meta
Distribution
Meta
Expires
Meta
Generator
Meta
MS Smart Tags
Meta
Pragma No-Cache
Meta
Publisher
Meta
Rating
Meta
Refresh
Meta
Reply-To
Meta
Resource Type
Meta
Revisit After
Meta
Robots
Meta
Set Cookie
Meta
Subject
Meta
VW96.ObjectType
Alright now that you've seen the list of
recommended, optional, and not recommended tags
lets get more information on each of these. If
you'd like to quickly jump to a certain Meta tag
select the link from above.
Meta
Abstract
Gives a short summary of the description. The
Meta Abstract is used primarily with academic
papers. The content for this tag is usually 10
words or less. An
example of a Meta Abstract:
<META NAME="Abstract" CONTENT="Short
description of page">
Recommendation of Meta
Abstract: This is an optional Meta tag.
It will not assist you with the major search
engines. If you have content that is highly
specialized, with the use of the Meta abstract tag
it will allow search engines that are apart of
your field of expertise to index your website
correctly. Currently the Meta abstract tag is not
apart of Google, Yahoo!, and MSN algorithms.
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Meta
Author
The Meta Author tag will display the author of
the document. With this Meta tag it will reference
the name of the person who developed the HTML/XML
document that is being viewed. If you use the Meta
Author tag it is recommended to use it with the
author's first and last name, but it is not
recommended to have the inclusion of the author's
email address due to the large increase of Spam.
If the author would like to be contacted, it is
advised to include a contact form on a HTML page
instead. An example of
a Meta Author tag:
<META NAME="Author" CONTENT="George
Costanza,
gcostanza@vandalayindustries.com">
Recommendation of Meta
Author tag:The Meta Author tag is an
optional Meta tag to use. If you have several
individuals contributing to the content of your
site include this tag for assistance in tracking
the author. The Meta Author tag is not indexed by
Google, Yahoo!, or MSN, meaning it will not assist
you in search engine rankings, but it is
recognized as part of the "Meta Tag Standard."
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Meta
Content Language
The Meta Content Language tag declares the
natural language of the document. This is also
known as the Meta Name Language. Robots use this
tag to categorize the language of the web
page. An example of a
Meta Content Language tag:
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Language"
CONTENT="en-GB">
An example of a Meta
Content Language tag: It is advised
only to use the Meta Content Language tag if your
website is written in non-US English. Currently we
have not tested this tag, but we have had reports
from our members that it does assist non-US
English sites in getting categorized properly by
the search engines.
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Meta Content
Script Type
Meta Content Script Type tag is used to specify
the default scripting language of the
document.
An example of a Meta
Content Script Type:
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Script-Type"
CONTENT="text/javascript">
Recommendations for Meta
Content Script Type: It is advised not
to use the Meta Content Script Type tag. Search
engines do not need this tag to detect scripts as
they do this on their own. Browsers also do not
use this tag either, as they have other detection
methods in place.
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Meta Content
Style Type
The Meta Content Style Type is used to specify
the default Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) language
for the documents.
An example of a Meta
Content Style Type tag:
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Style-Type"
CONTENT="text/css">
Recommendations for Meta
Content Style Type tag: It is
recommended not to use the Meta Content Style Type
tag. Search engines do not need to know the style
sheet of a document. Web browsers also do not look
to the Meta tags for style sheet information.
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Meta Content
Type To declare the character
set.
The Meta Content Type tag is used to declare
the character set of a website. It has become
recommended to always use the Meta Content Type
tag even if you use a DTD declaration above the
Header. If you fail to do so it may cause display
problems where as for instance the document uses
UTF-8 punctuation characters but is displayed in
ISO or ASCII character sets. There are other
benefits of using the Meta Content Type tag.
An example of a Meta
Content Type tag:
<meta
http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=iso-8859-1">
Recommendations of a
Meta Content Type tag: It is
recommended to always use the Meta Content Type
tag along with using the DTD declaration format
from the World Wide Web
Consortium. If you fail to do so you may cause
display problems. For example the Meta Content
Type tag helps properly display the page if the
document uses UTF-8 punctuation characters, but is
displayed in ISO or ASCII character sets. There
are many benefits to using the Meta Content Type
tag.
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Meta
Copyright
The Meta Copyright tag is used to include a
copyright, trademark, patent, or other information
that pertains to intellectual property.
An
example of a Meta Copyright tag:
<meta name="copyright" content="Copyright
2008">
Recommendations for a
Meta Copyright tag: It is not required
to use a Meta Copyright tag. Please be aware that
the Meta Copyright tag will not protect your
site's content or your intellectual property.
Consult your attorney to ensure you are protected
properly.
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Meta
Description
The Meta Description tag gives a description of
the document. The Meta Description tag is a short,
plain language description of the document,
usually consisting of 20-25 words or less. Search
engines that support the Meta Description tag will
use the information to publish on their search
results page, normally displaying below the Title
of your site listing.
An example of a Meta
Description tag:
<META NAME="description" CONTENT="Citrus
fruit wholesaler.">
Recommendations of the
Meta Description tag: It is recommended
to always use the Meta Description tag. Make your
Meta Description as compelling as you can, as your
description often is the difference between
getting your listings clicked in the search
results. The Meta Description tag is particularly
important if your document has very little text,
is a frameset, or has extensive scripts at the
top.
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Meta
Designer
The Meta Designer tag is used to declare the
designer of the website.
An example of a Meta
Designer tag:
<META NAME="Designer" CONTENT="Art
Vandaley">
Recommendations of the
Meta Designer tag: The Meta Designer
tag is optional to use. Usually web designers who
want advertising or to catch people who hijack
their designs use the Meta Designer tag. It should
be understood that search engines do not support
the Meta Designer tag.
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Meta
Distribution
The Meta Distribution tag is used to declare
the distribution of your web content. There are
three classifications of distribution which
consist of:
- Global (the entire web)
- Local (reserved for the local IP block of
your site)
- IU (Internal Use, not for public
distribution).
An example of a Meta
Distribution tag:
<META NAME="Distribution"
CONTENT="Global">
Recommendations for the
Meta Distribution tag: It is
recommended not to use the Meta Distribution tag.
If you want to have restricted distribution, use
the robots.txt tag or your HTAccess file.
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Meta
Expires
The Meta Expires tag is used to declare the
date and time after which the web document should
be considered expired.
An example of the Meta
Expires tag:
<META HTTP-EQUIV="expires" CONTENT="Wed, 26
Feb 2004 08:21:57 GMT">
Recommendations for the
Meta Expires tag: It is recommended not
to use the Meta Expires tag. While the Meta
Expires tag is good in concept, it is impractical
for search engines and not only do search engines
not read the Meta Expires tag, but according to my
testing, browsers ignore it too. Looking to stop
Google from caching your site? Even if you use the
Meta Expires tag Google will cache your page. The
Meta Expires tag is worthless don't bother with
it.
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Meta
Generator
The Meta Generator tag is used to declare the
name and version number of the publishing tool
used to create the page. The Meta Generator tag
can be used by tool vendors to assess market
penetration.
An example of the Meta
Generator tag:
<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="FrontPage
4.0">
Recommendations for Meta
Generator tag: It is recommended not to
use the Meta Generator tag. If you have the Meta
Generator tag, delete them if possible. Meta
Generator tags don't serve no purpose for your
pages.
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Meta
Google
The Meta Google tag has several options that
are exclusive for use with Google. These
include:
- Googlebot: noarchive - does not allow
Google to display cached content
- Googlebot: nosnippet - does not allow
Google to display excerpt or cached content
- Googlebot: noindex - similar to the
robots meta element
- Googlebot: nofollow - do not allow
Google to pass any PageRank or link popularity
to the link served.
Recommendations for the
Meta Google tags: The Meta Google tags
are optional to use. You generally do not need to
use Meta Google tags unless you want Google to do
something specific with your site. The Meta Google
tag is one of the few Meta tags Google will read,
index, and obey.
For more info straight from Google, see
Google's Remove Page.
Also referenced: meta tags google
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Meta
Language
The Meta Language tag is used to declare the
language used on the website. Webmasters who wish
to declare the primary language of the web page
can use the Meta Language tag.
An example of the Meta
Language tag:
<META NAME="Language"
CONTENT="english">
Recommendation of the
Meta Language tag: It is recommended to
only use the Meta Language tag for sites in the
non-US English languages. No testing has been done
in other languages to verify if the Meta Language
tag does indeed work.
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Meta
Keywords
The Meta Keywords is used to list keywords that
define the content of your site. Keywords are used
by search engines to properly index your site in
addition to words from the title, document body,
and other areas. The Meta Keywords tag is
typically used for synonyms and alternates of
title words.
An example of the Meta
Keywords tag:
<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="oranges,
lemons, limes">
Recommendations for the
Meta Keywords tag: It is recommended to
use the Meta Keywords tag with caution. Make sure
to only use keywords that are relevant to your
site. Search engines are known to penalize or
blacklist your site for abuse. The Meta Keywords
tag also exposes your keywords to your
competitors. Five hours of keyword research and
your competitor can hijack research within just a
few minutes.
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Meta MS Smart
Tags
The Meta MS Smart tags were part of a beta test
of Internet Explorer that was removed due to
negative press and feedback from users. In short,
Microsoft would sell keyword phrases, then the
Meta MS Smart Tags would allow for those keywords
to be highlighted on web pages that would take the
user to the advertiser's site. This would mean
your site could advertise your competitor's site
without your consent.
An example of a Meta MS
Smart tags:
<META NAME="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing"
CONTENT="TRUE">
Recommendations for Meta
MS Smart tags: It is recommended not to
use the Meta MS Smart tags. Microsoft discontinued
Meta MS Smart tags technology. If you are working
with an SEO firm that demands to insert these
tags, quickly find a new SEO company.
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Meta MSN (No
ODP)
The Meta MSN (No ODP) tag is used for your
description in the MSN search results instead of
the description used in DMOZ.
An example of a Meta MSN (No ODP) tag:
<META Name="msnbot" CONTENT="NOODP">
Recommendation for Meta MSN (No ODP)
tag: It is optional to use Meta MSN (No ODP)
tag. If you are unhappy with the description from
DMOZ, which most Webmasters are, use the Meta MSN
(No ODP) tag. While this is only good for MSNBot,
you can sub "Robots" for "MSNBOT" in the Meta MSN
(No ODP) tag to be valid for all bots. As of right
now, however, MSN is the only search engine using
descriptions straight from DMOZ.
Note: Using the Meta MSN (No ODP) tag
will not remove the DMOZ listing immediately. It
can take up to four weeks.
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Meta Pragma
No Cache
The Meta Pragma No Cache tag is used to prevent
visitors from seeing a cached version of a
specific page. The Meta Pragma No Cache tag forces
the browser to pull information from the server
each time the page is viewed.
An example of the Meta
Pragma No Cache tag:
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Pragma"
CONTENT="no-cache">
Recommendations for the
Meta Pragma No Cache tag: The Meta
Pragma No Cache tag has no affect on search
engines and is mainly implemented with the intent
to help users. For example: If you have a site
that changes on a daily basis, the Meta Pragma No
Cache tag would ensure that the visitor sees the
most recent version of the page.
However, since you are pulling information from
the server each time a visitor views the page, the
load time will be affected as well as incurring
increased server activity.
Google
has stated: "The http-equiv values pragma and
expires are attempts at bypassing caches without
having to set the HTTP headers correctly. These
are probably unnecessary uses; any scenario where
there is a legitimate reason to limit caching, the
author is going to have enough control over the
server to send the appropriate headers. In
addition, the meta tags can't be considered
reliable (e.g. proxies and transparent caches
aren't going to honor them)."
In my opinion, it is better to set the HTTP
headers correctly.
Note: The above also applies to the Meta
Expires Tag.
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Meta
Publisher:
The Meta Publisher tag is used to declare the
name and version number of the publishing tool
used to create the page. The Meta Publisher tag is
the same as the Meta
Generator tag. Could be used by tool vendors
to assess market penetration.
An example of the Meta
Publisher tag:
<META NAME="Publisher" CONTENT="FrontPage
4.0">
Recommendations for the
Meta Publisher tag: It is recommended
not to use the Meta Publisher tag. If you have the
Meta Publisher tag, delete them if possible. The
Meta Publisher tag serves no purpose for your
pages.
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Meta
Rating
The Meta Rating tag is used to display a
content rating similar to the movie rating system
(i.e. PG-13).
An example of the Meta
Rating tag:
There is not a set form of this tag, nor is
there any official statement from the W3C. Some
sites recommend using this tag, however, it is
just fictitious as the governing body of HTML has
no reference to it, and according to our testing,
has no merit.
Recommendations for Meta
Rating tag: It is recommended not to
use the Meta Rating tag. The fact that there is
not a set form for the Meta Rating tag suggests
you would be better off getting a rating from the
International International Content
Rating Association.
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Meta
Refresh
The Meta Refresh tag is used to specify a delay
in seconds before the browser automatically
reloads the document or URL specified.
An example of the Meta
Refresh tag:
<META
HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh"
CONTENT="3;URL=http://www.domain.com/page.html">
Recommendations for the
Meta Refresh tag: It is recommended not
to use the Meta Refresh tag. Search engines can
detect the use of the Meta Refresh tag and they
consider it Spam. Penalty is either ignoring the
page or banning your site completely from the
index. You should use a 301 or 302 redirect
instead.
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Meta Reply
To
The Meta Reply To tag is used to harvest email
addresses. The Meta Reply To tag is a Spammers
tag. The Meta Reply To tag picks up your email
address, then hits you fast and hard with offers a
plenty.
An example of a Meta
Reply To tag:
<meta name="reply-to"
content="your.email@address.com" />
Recommendations for the Meta Reply To
tag: It is highly recommended not to use the
Meta Reply To tag as it is used as a Spammer
method.
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Meta Resource
Type
The Meta Resource Type tag is used to declare
the resource of a page.
An example of a Meta
Resource Type tag:
<META name="resource-type"
content="document">
Recommendations for the
Meta Resource Type tag: It is
recommended not to use the Meta Resource Type tag.
Use the DTD Declaration instead.
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Meta Revisit
After
The Meta Revisit After tag is used to inform
search engines when to come back and index your
site again. It has been stated that the Meta
Revisit After tag will boost your site's rankings
with search engines that credit fresh pages. This
information is false and has no basis.
An example of the Meta
Revisit After tag:
<META NAME="Revisit-After" CONTENT="30 days
Days">
Recommendations for the
Meta Revisit After tag: It is
recommended not to use the Meta Revisit After tag.
Search engines will not obey the Meta Revisit
After tag and come back to index your site on
their own schedule, not when you tell them to.
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Meta
Robots
The Meta Robots tag control search engine
robots on a per-page basis. Tell Robots they may
traverse the page, but not index it.
An example of the Meta
Robots tag:
<META NAME="ROBOTS"
CONTENT="NOINDEX,FOLLOW">
Recommendation for the
Meta Robots tag: It is recommended not
to use the Meta Robots tag as the search engines
often ignore this tag. If you need to control the
search engine robots, use a robots.txt file or
modify your HTAccess file instead. Many people are
concerned that if a bot comes to their site
through a subpage and not their homepage, the
robots.txt file will not be read. This is not
true. The robots.txt is read each time a good boy
comes to a new domain. You can verify this through
your web logs.
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Meta Set
Cookie
The Meta Set Cookie tag is a cookie used to set
a cookie in the user's web browser. If you use an
expiration date, the cookie is considered
permanent and will be saved to disk (until it
expires), otherwise it will be considered valid
only for the current session and will be erased
upon closing the Web browser.
An example of the Meta
Set Cookie tag:
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Set-Cookie"
CONTENT="cookievalue=xxx;expires=Wednesday,
21-Oct-98 16:14:21 GMT; path=/">
Recommendations for the
Meta Set Cookie tag: It is recommended
not to use the Meta Set Cookie tag. While the Meta
Set Cookie tag was used years ago to set cookies,
cookies can now be set and customized very easily.
If you need assistance with cookies, our
programming staff can assist you for a nominal
fee.
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Meta
Subject
The Meta Subject tag is used to declare the
subject of the web site.
An example of the Meta
Subject tag:
<META NAME="Subject" CONTENT="Web Page
Subject">
Recommendations of Meta
Subject tag: It is recommended not to
use the Meta Subject tag. Any third party agent,
including browsers and search engines, does not
support the Meta Subject tag.
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Meta
Title
The Meta Title tag is used to declare the title
of the page. The Meta Title tag would normally
have the same title as contained in the
<TITLE></TITLE> tag.
An example of the Meta
Title tag:
<META NAME="Title" CONTENT="Page Title
Here">
Recommendation for the
Meta Title tag: It is recommended to
use the Meta Title tag with caution. According to
testing, Yahoo! and MSN index the Meta Title tag,
but its effect on the algorithm is unknown
inconsistent test results.
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Meta
VW96.ObjectType
The Meta VW96.ObjectType is used to define the
purpose of specific pages. Based on an early
version of the Dublin Core report, using a
defined schema of document types such as FAQ, HOW
TO, etc.
Recommendations for the
Meta VW96.ObjectType tag: It is
recommended not to use the Meta VW96.ObjectType
tag. Any search engine or major browsers do not
support the Meta VW96.ObjectType tags.
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© 2003-2008, WebMarketingNow
Jerry West
is the Director of Internet Marketing for Web
Marketing Now. He has been consulting on the
web since 1996 and has assisted hundreds of
companies in gaining an upper-hand over their
competition. Visit Web
Marketing Now for the latest in tested and
proven marketing tips.
The above article can be reproduced on your
site or e-zine as long as the signature file
remains.
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