Tags, Tags and more Tags!
1. The Title Tag
Starting at the very top we’ve got the title meta tag. This is what gets displayed at the top of your browser, and what is shown in the headline on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
Take a look around and you’ll find that the majority of websites have their main keyword in their title. This is because your title tag is there to get you traffic. Don’t worry about putting your company name first. Think about what you do when you search for something. You’re more likely to seach for a service than a name.
2. The Description Tag
The second of the meta tags, this is the short paragraph that people will see below the title tag when your page appears on the SERPs. You want this to be easy to read but at the same time making the readers want to visit your site. Captivate your audience.
Without a description tag search engines will just grab the first bit of content on your page. This may not be a problem all the time, but why take the risk? Include a description tag. And make sure it is well written and informative.
3. The Keywords Tag
The third and final meta tag in this article is the keywords tag. The relevance of this tag has been debated back and forth for years now, with many uncertain as to whether certain search engines even pay any attention to them at all.
However, some search engines definitely do still use them, and if you use them sensibly you won’t be penalised for including them. The important thing to do here is to make sure that your keywords are relevant to the page you are putting them on. Don’t go crazy in the hopes of turning up in a wider variety of searches by keyword spamming.
4. The Header Tags
This tag is used in the code in the body section of your page. The content on your page should flow in a heirarchy of information. Seach engines like to see you use appropriate header tags followed by intelligent, descriptive text below them. Throwing in some bold tags won’t cut it. The search engines need to know that your headings are important.
5. The ALT Tag
Finally we have the ALT tag. When you hover your mouse over an image and get a box pop up with some text in you are seeing the ALT tag in action. Every single one of your IMG tags should have an ALT tag included with it. Accesibility and standards rules require the presence of an ALT tag so even if the search engines aren’t paying them much attantion it’s good practice to include them.
John Robinson - designer, developer, coder... John’s not quite sure exactly how he should be labelled. Why not check out his blog and make a decision for yourself. He mostly talks about CSS, jQuery and the crazy world of the Interwebs, with a little bit of personal life thrown in for good measure.
