What are a Meta Tags?
Meta tags <meta> are a component of the
invisible part of your HTML page — all that stuff between the
<head> </head> tags. So far, you probably haven’t seen much
beyond the <title> tag in there, but now I’ll show you a few more.
None of these tags will actually change how your page looks, they are
purely for search engine's use and to provide some additional
information about your pages.
Meta tags were the original way to tell
search engines what your page was about. You’d add a description and a
number of keywords into your meta tags, and a search engine would come
along to “index” your page, read these words, and file your site under
them.
How to Use a Meta Tag
Meta tags are included in the <HEAD> of
an HTML document. If you are using meta tags to improve your standing
in search engines, then you should focus on your description and
keywords.
The description tag
Use the description tag to describe what your
page is about. Engines that use it will supply the content of this tag
when displaying a list of links. For example, if you do a search on
About.com, you will see the description listed on the search results
page.
The keywords tag
Keywords help search engines to categorize
your site, and to allow people to find your pages more quickly. However,
most search engines have limits as to how many meta keywords are
viewed. It is a good idea to review your keywords and make sure that
they are as concise and specific as possible.
