Tags are a part of search engine optimisation which is particularly difficult. Residing as they do within the coding of a site, they require a certain amount of technical understanding. It doesn’t help that there is a lot of disinformation all around the net about SEO tags, the result of fluctuating opinions on how they should be used.

Although there are as many ideas about tags as there are SEO gurus on the net, most agree that meta tags should be given at least a little attention. The general feeling seems to be ‘we don’t exactly know what they do, so you should probably keep them working’.

There are many misunderstood aspects of meta tags, and it can help to have expert advice when optimising the tags on your site. You can talk to us at SEO Consult about this area of search engine optimisation. Here are just ten of the areas it’s most easy to trip up:

1. Keywords in numbers. Your SEO consultant will tell you that individual pages have their own set of keywords. Many sites make the mistake of stuffing all of their keywords into their meta tags and get into trouble with the search engines because it is, just as it sounds, keyword stuffing. The keyword meta tag also has limited use as the search engines mostly ignore it.

2. Keywords in variety. Similarly to point one, some sites place as wide a variety of keywords in their tags as possible. Tags require the keywords on the page and some synonyms, but that’s all.

3. Title tags. The title tag has been ignored by many websites to their peril. A well-formed title tag is important to your SEO and to your website generally. Don’t forget that the title tag is usually the first thing users see of your site in the SERPs.

4. Meta description tags. Just as with the title tag, the meta description tag will be seen by your users in the SERPs. Make use of it!

5. The magic keyword formula. Put this in with unicorns, UFOs and fairies. In other words, while a lot of people want to believe in it, it doesn’t exist.

6. Number of terms in your meta tags. If you take a look at the source codes for some of the websites out there, you’ll see a huge variety of tags squeezed into the meta data. It isn’t always necessary to have tags for author, region, copyright and all of the possible areas for meta tags. Demanding they be filled is also a bad use of time if you have hired an SEO consultant.

7. Individuality. Some sites take a shortcut by copying their competitor’s tags. It should go without saying that this is a bad idea. Tags are just one part of the very individual process of SEO, and there’s always the chance that your competitors don’t know what they’re doing.

8. Repetition of tags. There was once a fashion of repeating the keyword and description meta tags in other meta tags, such as a comment tag. These days, repetition could be interpreted as spam and is best avoided.

9. Search engines vs. users. Users can see some meta tags. Make them human-friendly as well as search engine-friendly.

10. ‘DIY’ tags. Search engine optimisation is a specialist field requiring expertise for success. Professional results require professional work.

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