<META> TAGS

<META> tags are used to create meta-information, or information about the information in a Web site. There are many types of <META> tags, but the ones most relevant to indexing are the description and keyword tags. Description tags provide a short summary of the contents of the site that is often displayed by search engines when they list search results. Keyword tags are used to define words or phrases that someone using a search engine might use to look for relevant sites. <META> tags are of interest to indexers for two reasons. They provide a means of making your indexing business Web site more visible to those searching the Web for indexing services, and they offer indexers a potential new source of work: writing these keyword and description tags for Web site developers and companies with Web sites. <META> tag writing makes good use of an indexer’s ability to choose relevant key terms, and the closely related skill of abstracting: conveying the essence of a document in a sentence or two. 

<META> Tags and Search Engines

Search engines work by creating indexed references to Web pages. These references contain the title of the page, the URL, a summary description, and a list of keywords. Different search engines choose the summary information and keywords differently and usually combine information from the page’s <META> tags with other information from the page. You can overuse <META> tags or use them incorrectly, however, causing a search engine to ignore your site altogether. Some Web site designers try to trick search engines by using unrelated, but popular terms for keywords (competitor brand-name and sex-related terms fall into this category) to attract people to their sites. Because of this potential for misuse, some search engines do not place any weight on the keywords defined in <META> tags and, instead, index the text in the body of the page. 

Still, using <META> tags does have some benefits, and it is generally worth the small effort it takes to create these tags. Search engines that use <META> tags to boost a site’s rank in search results include HotBot and Infoseek. Other search engines, such as AltaVista, Excite, and WebCrawler, support <META> tags but do not, necessarily, rank your site any higher because of them. 

Don’t rely on <META> tags alone to bring your Web site to the top of the list of 463,987 sites pulled up by search engines in response to a simple query for indexers. There are numerous other ways to improve your site’s standing in the search results, and <META> tags should be used in conjunction with them. Look into several different methods if you are intent on being listed in the top ten sites. See the Resources at the end of this article for some ideas. 

What are <META> Tags?

Unlike most HTML tags, <META> tags are used to provide information about a Web site, not to format information on a page. They are non-displaying, or hidden, tags that are used by browsers and search engines for a multitude of purposes. The Keywords and the Description <META> tags that we will discuss in here, are only two of many such tags. (If you are interested in learning more about other types of <META> tags, check an up-to-date HTML reference book, see the references at the end of this chapter, or search the Web for articles and tutorials.) 

<META> Keywords tags contain keywords that describe your Web page. <META> Description tags contain a description of your site or your services. This is where your indexing skills come in. You choose the keywords and write a concise description. There is no controlled list of vocabulary terms to which you have to adhere. The process of writing keywords is similar to the usual indexing process, except that all the words are strung together in the keyword tag, in no particular order and without defined subentries. 

As in traditional indexing you always need to keep the user in mind. What keywords or combinations of keywords is the user going to choose to find the information on your site? What terms would you, an experienced Web aficionado, type into your favorite search engine if you were looking for this site? And what terms might your Web-phobic next-door neighbor use, if he needed to find this information? 

You may want to include common variants, British spellings, and misspellings of your keywords. If, for instance, one of your keywords is "archaeology," you might also want to include "archeology"; if one of your keywords is "millennium," you might also want to include "millenium" and "milennium." 

The only guidelines are that the keywords should occupy no more than 800-1,000 characters and keywords should not be repeated over and over again. Some search engines penalize you for repeating keywords by not listing your site at all. One rule of thumb is to use a keyword no more than seven times, either by itself or in combination with another word. For instance, an indexer might use: "indexing, indexer, medical indexing, embedded indexing, scientific indexing, book indexing, and back-of-the-book indexing" but any further use of the word "indexing" may cause search engines to ignore the site. 

<META> Description tags allow you to clearly and concisely describe the nature of your site. Your abstracting and summarizing skills will come in handy here. This tag is useful because it gives an exact description of your page to the search engine. The search engine can then use your description when it brings your site up on the search results page. Without description tags, the search engine may write its own description or simply use the first sentence or two from your Web page. 

Your description tag should be 200 or fewer characters. 

How Can I Create <META> Tags for my Indexing Web Site?

Coding for <META> tags is relatively simple if you are familiar with basic HTML. <META> tags are placed within the <HEAD> section of the page. They have two attributes: NAME and CONTENT. The NAME attribute is used to describe the type of meta-information you are providing (the type of <META> tag you are using). The CONTENT tag is used to provide the actual information (in this case, the keywords and the description). To create <META> tags, all you have to do is fill in the blanks in the following code: (The <TITLE> tags are not <META> tags, but are included here because they are also one of the tags included in the <HEAD> section of your page, and the contents of the <TITLE> tags are also used by search engines.) 

Position this code within <HEAD></HEAD> tags (as shown above) at the top of your page after the <HTML> tag. The <TITLE></TITLE> tags are probably the only tags you have thus far placed within the <HEAD></HEAD> tags, though, if you use an HTML authoring program, your program may have placed some additional <META> tags there to identity itself as the authoring tool and you as the author, and to add content information. 

Create <META> tags for your home page and top level pages; include all you pages if your site is fairly small or if they contain unique content. Tailor your keywords and description to the individual page, rather than using the same keywords and descriptions for all your pages. 

What Tools are Available to Help Me Create and Analyze My <META> Tags?

There are many online and downloadable tools that allow you to create and analyze your <META> tags. Because <META> tags are so easy to create, it is not really necessary to invest in a <META> tag generation program; however, they are quick and fun to use and most are free. They are often given away as a promotional device by companies offering other ways to boost your Web traffic for a fee. You have to enter your own keywords and description, but the tools write all the pesky HTML tags for you. They usually include their own promotional messages about their products, but you can delete these lines of advertising before inserting the code into your page. 

You’ll find a number of online tag generation programs that will show you your results instantly, on their Web site, or e-mail you the results. All you have to do is highlight, copy, and paste the HTML code into your Web page, removing the advertising message or not, as you wish. See the Resources section at the end of this article for some sources of these programs. 

There are also programs that analyze the keywords and descriptions that you have written and give you hints on how to improve your <META> tags. Other programs will actually write your keywords and descriptions for you. These programs are easily downloaded from the Web, some as free demos, and some for a small fee. Again, see the Resources section for more information. 

How Can I Get a Job as a <META> Tag Indexer?

Conceivably, a Web site design company could employ an indexer to create <META> tags. Laura Fillmore, president of Open Book Systems in Rockport, MA, suggests that there is a great future for indexers who can create <META> tag listings. She feels that indexers are ideally qualified to create <META> tags and Web indexes, because of their understanding of information architecture and how to arrange information in meaningful hierarchies. Although you won’t find many job listings for <META> indexers in your local newspaper at present, Fillmore feels this is a field with growing potential for indexers, particularly if you have related HTML skills, know where to look for work, and are persistent. A good place to begin is by contacting large Web developers and consultants who create numerous smaller sites. Fillmore suggests that indexers interested in the field of Web indexing look into STM (science, technical, medical) journals. Approach the STM publishers directly: Wiley, Academic, Springer, Carfax, Blackwell—any publisher who is actively putting its journals online in databases. She sees a growing trend to put these journals online, whether publicly, or in private, members-only areas, and predicts that these journals will need good, logically constructed <META> tags and Web indexes. Indexers, she feels, are the best ones to take on these jobs. 

For more information, please read Laura Fillmore’s article on the topic (see Resources.): 

A good start on a career in <META> tag and Web indexing would be to learn as much as you can about <META> tag indexing by creating <META> tags for your own site and your ASI Chapter site. See if you can boost your own site’s rating in the search engine results. Just as with traditional indexing, <META> tag indexing takes a little practice, and it is a good idea to hone your skills before taking on a job as a <META> tag indexer. Good luck! 

Resources

Books

For general information, consult any good HTML reference book, such as, Elizabeth Castro’s HTML for the World Wide Web, A Visual QuickStart Guide (Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press, 1998) or Laura Lemay’s Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML 4 in a Week (Indianapolis, IN: SAMS, 1998). Both have good information on <META> tags. 

For more information on how to increase your Web site’s standing in search engine results, consult a book such as William R. Stanek’s Increase Your Web Traffic in a Weekend (Rocklin, CA: Prima Tech, 1998). Or check out your local bookstore or one of the online bookstores such as Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. 

Web Sites

There are many Web sites that provide information on <META> tags. You can use a search engine that recognizes <META> tags to find a site whose creators really know how to use <META> tags effectively, or you can try some of the sites I have found helpful: 

Dan’s Web Tips: Titles, META tags, and Search Engine Robots http://www.softdisk.com/comp/dan/webtips/titles.html 

A useful discussion of <META> tags and how search engines use them. 

Megamoney Metatags: Some Tips for End-of Century Indexer Employment
http://www.obs-us.com/obs/english/papers/massindexer.htm 

by Laura Fillmore, presented at the 1997 Fall Conference of the Massachusetts Society of Indexers. 

META Tag Resources 

http://webdeveloper.com/categories/html/html_metatag_res.html

A large collection of articles on <META> tags and how to use them, collected by Web Developer.com. 

META Tag Tutorial Back to Basics: META tags, by Scott Clark http://www.webdeveloper.com/categories/html/html_metatags.html 

A helpful and readable discussion of many types of <META> tags. 

<META> The Proper Uses of HTML’s Meta Tag http://www.webresource.net/html/basics/meta.html 

This page, from Webresource.net, discusses the various uses of <META> tags, including redirecting users to other pages, and how search engines use <META> tags. 

Metatags 

http://www.metatags.com/ and http://www.metatags.net/ 

A brief (one-page), but useful overview of <META> tags and how to use them. 

Writing Meta Tags for Higher Search Engine and Good Descriptions http://www.globalserve.net/~iwb/search_engine/killer.html 

Discusses how to choose keywords and how to write <META> tags. 

<META> Tag Checking/Analysis/Creation Tools 

<META> Tag tools can analyze your <META> tags for you and give you tips on changes that would improve traffic to your site. Some of them provide only the basic Keyword and Description tags in response to your input, while others check your existing tags, or create keywords for you by analyzing your site. 

Meta Medic

http://www.northernwebs.com/set/setsimjr.html 

This tool not only analyzes your <META> tags and points out possible problems, but also includes an auto-generation feature to create meta tags for pages that do not include them. 

Meta Tag Builder

http://vancouver-webpages.com/META/mk-metas.html 

This tool, with your input, creates HTML code that includes a number of different types of <META> tags (site creator, subject, publisher, contributors, coverage). 

MetatagBuilder

http://www.metatagbuilder.com/ 

You enter your own title, keywords, and description, and your HTML is instantly generated on their Web site. You copy and paste it into your HTML. 

SiteUp’s Meta-Tag Generator

http://siteup.com/meta.html 

This is a free, downloadable program that allows you to check your <META> tags offline. 

WebPromote’s Meta-Tag Generator

http://metatag.webpromote.com/ 

Similar to the others, this site allows you to enter your meta information; it e-mails the completed code to you, rather than displaying it on the site. 

© 1999 Marilyn J. Rowland