The Role of Meta Tags in Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization newbies will have probably heard the term Meta Tag over and over from their mentors. Definitely, it is more than a term but an essential component that can make or break any SEO campaign. A meta tag is either a Title, Description or Keyword tag on an HTML page that contains a gist of that web page being optimized. There was a time when these tags were grossly abused by webmasters that search engines eventually relied on them less when turning up search results. Today, these tags are still important in search engine placement optimization but are now used in consonance with other site indexing processes.
The most basic function of meta tags is to give search engines a clue as to what a site is all about, thus, making the job of search engines easier when pulling up websites relevant to a search. With proper use of these tags, there's a good chance that a web page lands a good ranking on Search Engine Result Pages. If you've just set up your site, these tags are all the more important because they can give you initial SERP exposure which could be crucial for your website's survival.
The most effective way of using meta tags is to make sure they contain keywords relevant to your web page content. This allows a search engine to pull your link and display it each time somebody makes a search on that keyword. It is extremely important, however, to avoid repetition of such words in a tag because this registers as spamming which could get your site dropped from the search engine's listing.
Although the Title and Keyword tags are said to be most crucial in attracting search spiders or crawlers, the Description tag is more important to Internet users who will be deciding which among the SERP links will be clicked. When your web page turns up on search results, your description of it, which is displayed right under your link, will affect whether or not the searcher will actually click your link. A typical SERP will contain ten to twelve listings which means that's how many pages you're competing against. For that final push, you need a description that already contains a few reasons why your link should be clicked and not theirs.