Guide To Meta Tag Search Engine Optimisation

December 22nd, 2006 • Related • Filed Under

A current thread in the forum made me kick myself this evening for forgetting one of the basic principles of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), using Meta Tags, and I’ve just spent 30 minutes getting my Meta Tags optimised for SEO. Below are the steps I took to Optimise my Meta Tags For Search Engines.

The Wordpress codex explains the value of Meta Tags very clearly:

As a search engine prowls your site, it gathers information from the title, headings, content, and Meta Tags such as description or keywords. It compares the words within each of these sections and “ranks” the site dependent upon how well the information matches.

I first had SEO optimisation explained to me back in 2000, and although some of the weightings have changed since then, the basic principles remain the same. The more times a given keyword appears (in the following order) in your site url, Title, Meta Description and Meta Keywords then the higher your page score will be.

Based on this, it is clear that if your Meta Tags are optimised then this can help with search rankings. Tidying your Meta Tags will also help search engines present your results in a user friendly way, which will increase the changes that a user will click on your link rather than a competing link.

Step 1: Install Optimal Title Plugin To Optimise Meta Title Tag

The default structure for Titles within Wordpress displays the site name first, and then the post title. This is no good as a search engine will often truncate this so that it fits into their display format. If you have a long site name then all a user sees is your site title, rather than your article title which should more closely mirror what they are searching for, and increase your chances of being clicked.

To fix this install the Optimal Title Plugin which places the article title before the blog name in the page title, providing more meaningful search engine results (and also browser bookmark names).

Click here to install the plugin and for the installation instructions.

Step 2: Use The Excerpt_Reloaded Plugin To Optimise Meta Description Tag Length And Text

Why are Meta Description Tags Important?

The meta description tag describes your site’s content, giving search engines’ spiders an accurate summary filled with multiple keywords. The meta description tag is especially important because it’s the only tag supported by some engines. Another reason the meta description tag is important is that some engines use it as a site’s summary on their results pages. If they do, the reader may actually see this hidden tag.

I decided to use The Excerpt_Reloaded Plugin To Generate my Meta Description Tag, as I try to make sure that the first sentence on all of my posts reflects what the post is about, or at least contain a ‘hook’ to make readers read the whole post.

The general consensus is that a Meta Description should be under 200-250 characters so I created my Meta Description by adding the following code to my header (after the < title >):

excerpt.png

What this code does is add a 35 word excerpt if the page in question is a single page, removes all the HTML tags and adds a nice ‘more…’ at the end regardless of the length. I chose 35 words as this should keep me under 200 words, which is considered the maximum recommended length for the Meta Description. If the page being displayed is a multi-post view, then the blog name and description are displayed.

Download The Excerpt_Reloaded plugin here.
Step 3: Use The Ultimate Tag Warrior Plugin To Create Meta Keywords

I got a lucky break here. I already use the Ultimate Tag Warrior Plugin to create tags for search engines like Technorati, as well to help users find related posts. Hidden away on the UTW options page was a option to use the tags I’d already created as Meta Keyword Tags. This was such a great result, as it means that all of my posts now have optimised Meta Keywords as I always add UTW tags whenever I write an article.
More: Ultimate Tag Warrior Plugin

Optional Step 4: Add Other Meta Information

Although not essential, this can help some search engines and directories categorise your content. This site has a good list of tags that you can use and also this one on which tags to use. I decided to add the following:

extrameta.png

I hope you found this guide useful. Please leave a comment if you have any questions or any other tips. Don’t forget to check out the forum for more tips and discussion.

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About the Author

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Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK.

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There Are 10 Responses So Far. »

  1. 1

    Comment by TonyWilliams on 22 December 2006:

    Yet another helpful post - thanks. I’m going to have a look at the tags in my theme, to see if I can improve them. I’ll let you know how I get on

  2. 2

    Comment by Ryan Wagner on 22 December 2006:

    I use a plug-in that only adds the meta tag, but I have heard good things about the ultimate tag warrior.

  3. 3

    Comment by Ajay on 22 December 2006:

    UTW rocks.

    You shouldn’t be installing too many plugins. Better to handcode.

  4. 4

    Comment by Everton Blair on 22 December 2006:

    I keep saying you’re my idol as I can’t code. The only ‘heavy one’ here though is UTW, and I can’t live without that one.

    My pages are getting a bit slow again, but I think it’s the Vizu poll that’s the main culprit but I’m going to prune some plugins over xmas.

    I’ve already done a few - have you noticed there are no more snap previews? ;-)

  5. 5

    Comment by Ryan Wagner on 22 December 2006:

    The snap previews are cool at first but I have heard a lot of people on a lot of sites complain about them. I think it was a good choice to get rid of them.

  6. 6

    Comment by Everton Blair on 22 December 2006:

    I was teasing AJ as he wrote the plugin!

  7. 7

    Comment by Ajay on 22 December 2006:

    Thanks for feeling that way. Just wish this idol had as many visits as you do :)

    Noticed the no snap previews.

    UTW is worth keeping, others neednt be.

  8. 8

    Comment by Everton Blair on 22 December 2006:

    I’ve switched to just using the standard excerpt as you’re right excerpt_reloaded was a luxury.

    How would you replicate the optimal title plugin functionality?

  9. 9

    Comment by Ajay on 22 December 2006:

    Use this code:

    <title>
    <?php
    if (is_404())
    {
    if (is_tag())
    {
    _e('No entries tagged with “');
    UTW_ShowCurrentTagSet('tagsettextonly');
    _e('” &raquo; ');
    }
    else
    {
    _e('Error 404 - Not Found &raquo; ');
    }
    }
    elseif (is_search())
    {
    _e('Search Results for ');
    echo '“'.$s.'” &raquo; ';
    }
    elseif (is_tag())
    {
    _e('Entries tagged with “');
    UTW_ShowCurrentTagSet('tagsettextonly');
    _e('” &raquo; ');
    }
    else
    wp_title(' ');

    if(wp_title(' ', false)) echo ' &raquo; ';
    bloginfo('name');
    ?>
    </title>

  10. 10

    Pingback by Guide To Making Money Online With Blogging | Connected Internet on 1 April 2007:

    [...] Guide To Meta Tag Search Engine Optimisation [...]

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