Meta tags can be used to increase the visibility of a website in search engines, so they are undeniably important for SEO.
On the other hand, if they are misspelled, they can have a negative impact on your website’s SEO ranking.
Let’s find out what meta tags are, why they are important to SEO, and how to use them properly to get the benefits.
What are meta tags?
Meta tags are snippets of HTML code that search engine robots like Google can crawl.
They influence the visibility of a website in the SERPs. Meta tags are assigned to the- Added section of pages and can only be seen in the HTML code:
Why are meta tags important for SEO?
Meta tags are one of the main channels a website needs to use to communicate with search engine robots – the ones responsible for crawling the content of the pages to be indexed. Meta tags are used to indicate to search engines whether or not a page should be indexed and to add additional information about its content.
This makes meta tags core aspects of an SEO strategy for two main reasons. With good writing and meta-tag configuration, we can help robots better understand the content of every page on a website so we are more likely to rank higher in the SERPs.
In addition, meta tags can provide users with additional and high quality information to get more clicks and higher CTR in search, as well as giving them a better experience within the website.
Examples of meta tags
Meta tags are an essential part of a successful SEO strategy, so it is important to write them in a unique way, keep an eye on Google for a higher ranking, but also think about the user. Let’s look at some examples of how you should and shouldn’t write meta tags.
Examples of original meta title and meta description tags
With meta title and meta description tags, we show both robots and users the main topic of the page and what the SERPs are about.
They should be written in a unique and original way so that they describe the content and attract the attention of visitors. In this way we can manage to appear above large websites or directories.
If, on the other hand, we do not optimize the title tags with the most important keywords and topics of the page and also not appropriately, it will be more difficult to appear in the first positions of the SERPs.
And not only that: Avoiding keyword stuffing is also a good idea, which means that we shouldn’t repeat a word too often or it will look unnatural.
Examples of meta tags that can damage our entire digital strategy
Incorrectly setting up a meta tag, either accidentally or through ignorance, can seriously affect the overall visibility of the website.
In this case, we’re talking about the robots meta tag with content = “noindex” through which we tell search engines that we do not want a page to be indexed – i.e. visible – in the SERPs. With this robots meta tag example, it is difficult to get organic clicks on a Google webpage because it is not listed.
On the other hand with content = “index” We tell the robots that we want to be indexed so that they appear in the SERPS results:
Because of this, it is very important to know how to avoid these examples of meta tags which can significantly affect the website’s visibility in search engines.
How to Write Meta Tags Tag
If you are wondering how to write meta tags for better performance, it is important that you always think about your users as you write content. Then, when you have a well-implemented SEO strategy in place, it will help you rank your pages automatically.
For this reason, when writing meta tags, remember to include the subject of the page or subject. If it is possible with your main keyword or synonyms, especially with title and meta description tags.
When writing, it is important to follow the tips below to follow Google’s guidelines to try and rank better.
Title tags
By using the title tag, we show both Google and the users in the search engines the title of the page content. This tag should not be confused with Heading 1, the main title of the text. The title meta tag is only visible to users in the search results, but not within the page.
Best practices for writing title tags:
- Summarize the main topic of the page with the main keyword or terms.
- Write unique, original, and attractive titles to grab user attention and increase the page’s CTR in the SERPs.
- Be specific and descriptive based on the content of the page.
- Do not exceed or repeat any keywords.
- Do not write more than 60 characters (maximum 580 pixels).
How to write title tags
In WordPress or similar CMS tools, you can install SEO plugins like Rank Math or Yoast SEO that will help you edit and preview your title tags.
Or you can also put the following code in theInsert on your website:
Meta description tags
Meta description tags allow you to add a brief description of the page that will be visible in search results.
While Google does not always display the content suggested by the creator, sometimes it can be automatically generated from the content of the page if they feel that the content created by the user is not of sufficient “quality” or is unrelated to the user’s search query .
Best practices for writing meta description tags:
- Write the meta descriptions in a personalized way that summarizes the content of the page.
- Include the keyword at the beginning of the sentence naturally and without repeating it too much.
- Make them attractive and original.
- Keep it between 140 and 160 characters (maximum 920 pixels).
How to write meta description tags
You can also use SEO plugins to help you edit and preview this section:
Or you can also put the following code in theInsert on your page:
The robots meta tag is one of the most important meta tags in an SEO strategy. This tag specifically tells a search engine whether or not to index or track a page.
- In general, the default values are index, follow and in most cases it is not necessary to state them. With this we show the robots that the page should be indexed in the SERPs and that it can be tracked.
- On the contrary, if we state the values noindex, nofollow, we’re telling Google that we don’t want these links to be followed or shown in search engines.
Best Practices for Writing Meta Robots Tags
- Do not confuse noindex tags with robots.txt. With robots.txt files we indicate to a search engine whether we want to crawl some pages or not, while we use robots tags to inform whether a website should be indexed or not. For this reason, it is important not to block noindex pages in robots.txt files as robots cannot read them
How to write meta robots tags
You can edit the robots tag using Rank Math or Yoast SEO:
Or you can put the following code in theInclude on your page if you want your page to be indexed and tracked:
Meta viewport tag
The meta viewport tag is used to control how we tell search engines how a page should be rendered and displayed on different devices (mobile, tablet and desktop).
Best Practices for Writing Meta Robots Tags
- Use a meta viewport tag across your website to customize the content for the mobile version.
How do I edit the viewport tag?
When you know what you’re really doing, you can use your viewport tag in theEdit your document. If not, use the default recommended option:
Complete list of meta tags
But there are many more meta tags. We provide a complete list of the most important meta tags for your SEO strategy:
Other meta tags that are not strictly necessary for SEO but should be considered:
- Author meta tagto name the author of the page
- Copyright meta tag, Owner of the rights to the source code of an HTML page.
- Rating tag for meta namesto indicate adult content
- Date meta tagsto view the date of the content
As we can see, there are various meta tags that can help us communicate better with both the user and the search engines so that everyone can better understand the information provided. But it is important to know each individual and to optimize them in an attractive and optimal way.