Very new to optimisation

[qikker]

Does any one know the importance or influence, of the 'keyword'aspect of meta tags in improving rank position on specific search engines.

cheers andy

[le_gber]

meta keyword = no longer very important but still worth spending 10/20second per page to make sure each one has a specific set targetted to the page.

[specter]

In my experience it works fine with Yahoo/Altavista.

[mack]

It is always a good idea to include these within your pages. Google doesn't use them, but a some people believe Yahoo! does. Just make sure you make correct use of them. Make sure you use keywords that are very specific to your page and avoid overly repeating keywords.

The Meta Keyword tag has been greatly depreciated over the past few years, but it still a very valid html resource.

Mack.

[Jim Catanich]

Of the many options and opinions available, I have settled on using the <title>, <meta name="description"..., <meta name="keywords"..., and an optional <meta name="abstract"...

The format I use and the order is as followed:

<title>Dallas Search Engine Marketing - My-site.com </title>

<meta name="description" content="My-site.com , Dallas Search Engine Marketing (SEM) firm can drive qualified traffic to your site." />

<meta name="abstract" content="A Dallas Texas based Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm. At my-site.com, we believe that search engine marketing is more than generating traffic; it's about driving qualified visitors to your site and getting them to take action.">

<meta name="keywords" CONTENT="Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Ranking, Search Engine Placement, Web Site Placement, Internet Marketing, Website Submission, SEO Tools, SEO Products, Placement Services, Online Marketing, Advice, Regional, Submission, Ranking, Placement, Marketing, Analytics, Email, PPC, Branding, Advertising, Training, Services, Information, My-site.com , Dallas, Texas">

In the <title> I used "Dallas" as a local qualifer for the keyword phrase "Search Engne Marketing". I'm not going to NY from TX to work.
I applied "my-site.com" to increase the SERP count on my site so that I look better. But Google does not display more than 64 characters on the first line of the SERP so having more than that doesn't really help. But when a Searcher looks at your SERP's first line, those words you have placed in the <title> tag REALLY MATTER. It is what they see!

Although Google appears not to use the <meta name="description"... tag any longer, you can control what the SERPs second line appears as. Does Yahoo or MSN us it, I believe they do. But again the description tag does display on the second line of their SERPs. Again, it's what they see!

As for keywords, maybe the SE no longer use it but in 6 months, you will need to. After 500 pages, you will not remember why you did things and putting the keywords in priority order will help you remember.

Off topic for a second. If you work for a large company, the keyword tag become EXTREAMLY important when it come to Enterprise Search. So I would still use it.

As for the <meta name="abstract"... tag, I'm not sure. I'm testing it's use now. I have seen word strings use in it that appeared in the SERPs. but the word string was not in the description tag.

I also use <H1>, <H2>, <img ALT="keyword", and <a title="keyword" .

Some of the other one being used are <table summary="keyword"... <caption>keyword phrase</caption>, etc.

But as the SE keep changing what they look for, Links and Content will always rule.

Hope this helps

Jim Catanich

[sgliggett]

Let us not forget the thousands and thousands of meta search engines. Public, corporate and private that depend on metas. Not your major search engines, but; they add up.