Though meta keywords tags are not a major factor search
engines consider when ranking sites, they should not be left off the page.
Both the meta keywords tag and the meta description tag contribute to your
search engine ranking. A meta keywords tag is supposed to be a brief and
concise list of the most important themes of your page. The meta keywords
tag takes the following form:
When you write a meta keywords list, start by
scanning the copy on your page. Make a list of the most important terms you
see on the page. Then read through the list. Pick the 10 or 15 terms that
most accurately describe the content of the page. If you can't narrow your
keyword list down to 10-15 keywords, then the content on your page may be
rambling to far. Because of the hyper-competitiveness of the current search
engine placement landscape, pages need to be very focused on one or two
specific keyword phrases in order to have a chance to get a top ten
placement. For example, a page about northern Michigan apples and central
Florida oranges doesn't have much of a chance to win for either "northern
Michigan apples" or "central Florida oranges." To have any chance to win,
you need to have one page about northern Michigan apples and one page about
central Florida oranges.
Another example: If you page is a list of
exercise or fitness tips, and on the page you list tips for things to do
before, during, and after a workout, then you need to think to yourself,
"what 10 or 15 words or phrases is this page MOST about?" Just because your
page mentions dieting in the text doesn't mean that the page is about
dieting. If you want to win for dieting, then create a page about dieting.
The ultimate example of a page which is focused and ready for search engine
optimization is a page from an encyclopedia. Each page is brief, focused,
and has just one theme.
