duplicate meta tags

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duplicate meta tags

view source shows meta tags twice

geekest1

3:16 pm on May 10, 2009 (gmt 0)

I have recently tried adding meta tags to an old site to see the effects. I first fired up Google analytics so I might see and track any traffic improvement overtime. So beginning with just description and keywords,thanks I added meta tags:

When editing the page in raw text I see the tags but once. After FTPing pages to the site I find if I view source the tags are duplicated in all but the index page, there are 4 other pages.

Is it that the meta tags are only needed on the index page?
I am worried about an indexing bot rejecting the page if they find keywords duplicated. Clues for the clueless much appreciated. Thank you

Receptional Andy

3:41 pm on May 10, 2009 (gmt 0)

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, geekest1 :)

A search engine will almost certainly ignore this error - likely choosing the first set of meta elements. I wouldn't worry too much about that side of things, but it would still be worthwhile to track down the cause of the error.

Incidentally, if you're new to SEO and are looking for maximum effect with small content changes, you probably want to start with editing the <title> elements on your pages.

g1smd

4:00 pm on May 10, 2009 (gmt 0)

The meta description should appear on every page and should summarise the content of the page it is on.

The keywords tag has little or no use these days. I don't use it.

geekest1

6:50 pm on May 10, 2009 (gmt 0)

Thank you for the response. I feel better knowing the search engines have some degree of tolerance. It was interesting to hear that keywords are of little or no use and that title has more potential in terms of gaining recognition / position. Any resources where I might find a discussion of meta tags. Ironically that is how I bumped into this site...a search on meta tags yielded a post that seemed to be on the mark and it turned out to be a good piece of satire posted by pageoneresults. Had me going.
Thanks again

tedster

2:09 am on May 11, 2009 (gmt 0)

Any resources where I might find a discussion of meta tags.

You could use our Site Search [webmasterworld.com] to zero in on them - there are many good threads. Here's one: Meta tags and more - from <head> to </head> [webmasterworld.com]