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Meta tags are simply words that effectively and succinctly describe what a page of your website is all about.  Meta tags are the words that the search engines use to determine how relevant your website page is to the search term that a surfer uses to find your website.  Meta tags are found in the html code of your website pages.

There are many different meta tags that can be used on a webpage.  To get started the three most important tags are:

• Title Tag – the most important meta tag – is the “title” of the webpage
• Description Tag – a meta tag that is often displayed in the search results of search engine webpages
• Keyword Tag – a meta tag that indicates the major keywords to be found on the website page

A good plan is to use at least these three tags on each of your website pages.

Elements of  Good Meta Tags

Title Tag
A Title Tag can be up to approximately 100 characters in length.  Be sure to list your primary keywords first, and then your business name.

Description Tag
A Description Tag can be up to approximately 250 characters in length.  However, many search engines only display the first 70 characters in their search results.  This tag should be written in sentences for the web surfer to easily read, and should also contain the primary keywords for the webpage.

Keyword Tag
A Keyword Tag can be up to a 1000 characters in length.  However today, you should not be using the entire length available.  Instead it is more effective to list the top five to ten keywords that describe the webpage.  Be sure to use these keywords in the content of the webpage as well.

How do the meta tags get into the code?

bWyse’s administration tool (see image above) will insert meta tags into the code.  All you have to do is remember to save the changes you’ve made to your meta tags in the backend administration tool.

Should meta tags include the keywords that we used in the content of our webpage?
YES, the meta tags should include keywords and directly correlate to your webpage content.  The search engines will praise you for your consistency and the relevancy of your meta tags and the content of your webpage.

How often should I change or update my meta tags?

For the most part, the meta tags should be defined when you design your webpage.  As your content evolves over time – so too should your meta tags.  Bare in mind that meta tags are just one variable in a long list of variables considered by search engines when determining the ranking of your webpages.  Be sure to be patient, as it takes a while for the search engines to update the ranking of your webpages following changes and updates.

Are there meta tags for every page?

Yes, there are meta tags for every page.  Every page can be uniquely described.  Your customers don’t always enter your site through your home page.  For example if they are looking for a specific product or service that you sell they may enter your site through a page in your online store that features that product or service. 

It is important to write page specific meta tags for every page in your site, so the search engines have an easier time delivering what the surfer wants, not necessarily what they asked for.

Meta Data Support

If you have lost or misplaced your user name or your password to your backend administration tool contact Wendy@bwyse.com and she will gladly refresh your memory. 

If we can be of any assistance to you in creating, critiquing or editing your meta tag descriptions do not hesitate to contact us at june@bwyse.com, wendy@bwyse.com or on the shoe-phone at 425-885-9976. 

Enough Data about Data

Now we’ve given you data about meta data to encourage you to log on to the backend of your website and revisit your keywords and meta tag description. 

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