There are a couple of common misconceptions about meta tags, and both revolve around
using meta tags to help the search spiders index a site.
First, is that your page must have meta tags in order for the spiders to find and index
it. Not true! Spiders can find your page whether or not it has meta tags. The tags do,
however, help some spiders index it in the way you want it indexed.
Second, is that you can control the exact way your site is indexed by using some magic
formula of meta tags. For some spiders the meta tags provide guidelines, but
the content of meta tags is weighed with other factors, and each spider uses meta tag
information a little differently.
The bottom line for meta tags and site searches? It's a good idea to include meta tags
in your pages, but don't expect miracles.
Search Spiders, Search Engines, Search Directories
Before detailing the meta tags than can help along the search process, it is helpful to
understand a little more about how searches on the web work. There are five components
that you're dealing with when you are thinking about making your site
"findable."
First, is the search spider. Some of the search/directory services employ spiders;
others don't. The spider is an automatic agent that goes out and searches the web for
anything new. It turns its results into an index.
The index is a listing of all the content the search service knows about. Some services,
like Alta Vista and WebBot, use primarily spider-generated indices. Others, like
Yahoo, are primarily directories.
Directories are compiled, organized sets of sites. There is typically some human
intervention which says "swamp-lands real estate is a type of business that belongs
in the regional/business category." Directories don't include every single page on
the web but, by limiting themselves, they can often be more useful, if less comprehensive.
Directories too, generate indices but these indices are guides to the contents of the
directories rather than maps of the entire web.
A search engine is the tool that translates a
visitor's search request into a query that
searches through the indices and returns a search response. Search engines use all sorts
of technologies including items like keywords, weighting, proximity, and full text search.
Don't drive yourself crazy trying to understand how each works -- just know that none work
exactly the same and there is no silver bullet for making your site hop to the top of
every list.
Finally, the search interface is the layout and tools through which a reader enters his
or her question. Don't underestimate the human factor in searches -- if you know people
refer to your content area by a particular name or description, use that in a meta tag and
in the description of any directory submissions you make for your site. The more you think
like your readers, the more likely potential readers are to find you.
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How It Works
Adding meta tags for search spiders to find is quite simple. You'll place them in the
header area, one after another.
The basic meta tag for search looks like this:
<META NAME="xxx" CONTENT="xxx">
The tag's name is meta.
The first attribute is name. You use this attribute because you are using the meta
tag to define a set of information. The two most common values for this
attribute are
"description" and "keywords."
The second attribute is content. It tells the browser what data is stored in the
meta tag. For example, the content value for a description meta tag would be a brief
description of the page. The content value for a keywords meta tag would be a list of
possible search words or phrases, each separated by a comma.
The result of adding these tags is, ideally, that the search spiders will describe your
page the way you want it described, and display it as a search result high on its hit
list.
Note that using meta tags is a particularly important consideration if you use frames
on your site, since there may be nothing on a frameset page except for a frameset -- from
which a spider can't find a description or keywords, and therefore has no idea how to
index it.
The Description Meta Tag
<META NAME="description" CONTENT="a short, but
appealing, description of the page, usually less than 200-250 characters long.">
Normally, a search spider will use the first few words on your page as a sample of what
the searcher will find there. However, if you insert a description meta tag the spider
will use the value in the content switch as the page's description instead. For example, a
description meta tag for a Paso Fino horse ranch might look like this:
<META NAME="description" CONTENT="Bay Meadows is
the premiere breeder and trainer of fine Paso Fino horses on the West Coast.">
Now, the description that appears after your site's name in a search result will be
much more meaningful to potential readers.
The Keywords Meta Tag
<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="words, simple
phrases, items of interest, possible search terms">
The keywords meta tag lists words or phrases that a searcher might use in looking for
your topic. The more words that match, the better the odds are that your site will be in
the top matches. For example a keywords meta tag for a Paso Fino horse ranch might look
like this:
<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="horse, paso fino,
ranch, stable, stallion, breeding, gait, horse show, paint, peruvian, horseback, riding,
trail horse">
Now, the odds are improved that someone looking for "horses good for trail
riding" will find your site.
The Abstract Meta Tag
<META NAME="abstract" CONTENT="A longer, more
detailed description of your site; an academic style abstract.">
Sometimes a spider will also record an abstract, along with a description. The abstract
is simply a longer description that summarizes the page. For example an abstract meta tag
for a Paso Fino horse ranch might look like this:
<META NAME="abstract" CONTENT="Studies show that
the Paso Fino breed is among the most even tempered and best riding horse ever bred. Their
unique gait lends comfort to the trail and the horses were developed as reliable
transportation, as well as intelligent companions. This ancient breed is growing in number
in North America and ranches like Bay Meadows are leading the breeding and training of
today's finest mares and stallions.">
Now readers who use a service that supports the abstract meta tag will see a full and
complete summary of your page.
The Author Meta Tag
<META NAME="author" CONTENT="Your Name">
The author meta tag lets you identify the author of the page. Sometimes this gets used;
most often you'll be including it for your own benefit or for the benefit of anyone
looking at your code. An author meta tag might look like this:
<META NAME="author" CONTENT="Jane A.
Doe">
The Generator Meta Tag
<META NAME="generator" CONTENT="Program
Name">
Like a little advertisement, some HTML page editors automatically include a generator
meta tag in every page they create. A typical generator meta tag might look like this:
<meta name="GENERATOR"
content="Microsoft FrontPage
5.0">
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Avoiding Indexing
You can also use meta tags to avoid having your page indexed. If your page is created
for a small group of people, if you'd rather not have random browsers hitting your site,
or if your site is live but still under construction or otherwise not ready for *prime
time* viewing, you might not want it to be indexed.
You avoid indexing by using a meta tag named robots. Not all spiders honor this meta
tag, but several do. Robots looks
like this:
<META NAME="robots" CONTENT="noindex">
Using a robots meta tag and setting its content value to "noindex" tells the
search spider to skip this page when it builds its index.
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