Meta tags sometimes appear as page decription text

[dpplgngr]

Anyone else seen this?

Any thoughts on the implications?

[Big_Dug]

Usually when the page body doesn't contain any of the search terms.

[punta]

Also it appears when there isn't any page body, for example on a flash only page, a meta description will be used.

[tolachi]

The implications are that you can control exactly what your call to action is.

I've seen this on pages where the search terms do appear in the text of the page. 5 or 6 times at least by a rough quick count.

[agerhart]

>>> a meta description will be used.

Sometimes the Meta Keywords tag is used.

[coosblues]

Then Google is reading meta tags? I've read many places where the info said G did not read those tags.

[onedumbear]

when the meta description tag contains the keywords used in the search term, you will see it, maybe not all of it, but some.

[punta]

I've read many places where the info said G did not read those tags.

It just goes to show that you shouldn't believe everything you read. :-P

[coosblues]

>punta

I've always used them on all my websites. I usually tend to play on the safe side in matters that are rather ambiguous. Mom taught me early in life not to believe everthing I read or hear :)

[punta]

I didn't say they were of any use! I don't use meta descriptions or keywords at all. They're a waste of bandwidth and I've not had any problems with SEO in google.

[dpplgngr]

I didn't say they were of any use! I don't use meta descriptions or keywords at all. They're a waste of bandwidth and I've not had any problems with SEO in google.

Some folks have been saying that the page title is becoming a less salient factor. If this is true, other factors may surface as more significant.

I personally believe that the nature of a page *as a referer* is evaluated differently than its nature *as a term contender*... owing to the idea that the google index is a conglomeration of personal recommendations. mary, who is liked by peter, would probably be dug by paul, owing to certain elements of the peter-paul kinship. i believe that meta tags are considered a strong indicator of the nature of a referer. this is sloppy advice without proof, but it certainly is testable.

[Dave_Hawley]

They're a waste of bandwidth

You are kidding....................aren't you?

Dave

[punta]

They're a waste of bandwidth

You are kidding....................aren't you?

Not at all. I don't use description or keyword tags at all. Haven't for a couple of years now. I'm happily sitting at number 1 position in most engines for a number of competetive keywords. These are mainly international football (soccer) players and managers.

[Marval]

You might want to cosider the loss of competiveness in other large engines that do use the metas - as well as the fact that all of the engines will, as described above, see the words in the metas on a graphic intensive page and give more keywords and phrases to be competitive with. I can tell you that the bandwidth for the metas is a lot cheaper than the bandwidth to have a seperate page to try to rank for those keywords

[dpplgngr]

These are mainly international football (soccer) players and managers.

That doesn't sound like a difficult keyphrase challenge.

Never tell SEO people about your easy search targets- they may decide that what they're doing is too hard. Then, sadly, they will rob you of all your fantasy sports wealth.

If the average number of backlinks for the top five sites for your keyphrase is less than, say, 20, and you're making money don't need to worry about covering all the bases... then... shhh...