The Power of META TAGS in Search Engine Optimization

Putting information on the Internet is a great way to provide information to the world about your product and services. Providing information on the Internet can improve your efforts by using technology to provide the marketing legwork. You can significantly improve the number, and more importantly the relevance, of the people you bring to your site, or directory, or blog by paying some attention to Search Engine Optimization(SEO). One of the key components of proper SEO is the use of META TAGS.

Web traffic typically consists of three distinct types. These three types of traffic are referred to as Direct, Organic, and Referral traffic. In this posting we will examine how direct and organic traffic are different, and how to use META TAGS to build organic traffic.

Direct Traffic is traffic that is generated from information that you post on the web simply because people already know to look for it there. For example, you may be wondering what the Government of Canada is doing these days, so you go to your computer browser and you type in http://www.gc.ca/. You have just created “Direct Traffic” for the Government of Canada. Generating “Direct Traffic” assumes a degree of existing brand recognition, and doesn’t require the use of any META TAGS, because people already know the website address.

If someone knows your website and types it in, they are creating “direct traffic” for you. In fact if someone already knows your website address, then the your marketing is already somewhat done since there is already brand awareness.

WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO DON”T KNOW WHERE YOUR INFORMATION IS?

“Organic Traffic” is very different. Organic traffic can attract visitors to your website even though they don’t know anything about you or your products or services. There are several techniques to create Organic Traffic. One of the techniques to build “Organic Traffic” is the use of META TAGS.

Putting the proper information into the META TAGS of any information that you create on the web significantly improves the ability of people to find you through search engines such as Google, Yahoo, AltaVista, etc. If you are trying to create brand and product awareness on the Internet why not let the search engines do the heavy lifting of marketing. This heavy lifting is attracting the “right clientele” to your web content.

There are 3 essential META TAGS that need proper and complete information to boost your organic traffic. These 3 essential META TAGS are the META TITLE, META DESCRIPTION, and META KEYWORD tags.

META TAGS FOR SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION EXPLAINED

The META TITLE tag is what will show up in the title bar of your web browser. The figure below demonstrates where META TITLE information shows up.







The META DESCRIPTION information that you submit is not visible to the human viewer, but is visible to search engines such as Google, Yahoo, AltaVista etc.

The META KEYWORD information that you submit is not visible to the human viewer either, but again is visible to search engines such as Google, Yahoo, AltaVista etc.

These search engines send out their little SEO bots to have a peek at your web content periodically and they scan your web content for META TITLE, META DESCRIPTION, and META KEYWORDS, as well as the information that you actually submit (your content).

So now that you know what META TITLES, META DESCRIPTIONS, and META KEYWORDS are, let’s examine how to use these.

Let’s make up a fictitious business called Muskoka's Fine Flower Shop.

The META TITLE should include a short title on what the page is about and the market you serve. For example:
Muskoka's Fine Flowers– Fine Flowers and Floral Arrangements

The META DESCRIPTION should include a short paragraph on what the page is about. For example: Muskoka's Fine Flowers is a flower shop located Muskoka, ON. Muskoka Fine Flowers will design flowers and floral arrangements. We can deliver or you can pickup. An excellent choice for weddings, funerals, anniversaries or Valentines day.

The META KEYWORDS should include several words that people searching for flowers might be looking for even though they don’t know about Muskoka Fine Flowers . These keywords should be separated by commas. Not any keywords will do. Your keywords should be related to the service or product you provide, and if you only serve a specific geographical location it should be included in your keyword selection. Respectable keyword choices for this ficticous company may be: Muskoka, flowers, floral, weddings, funerals, anniversary, Valentines day.

However, keep in mind that people are searching for terms which may be different than you might expect. For example, Muskoka Fine Flowers might cater to weddings, funerals, anniversaries and Valentines day. However, “roses, tulips, daisies,” may be good keyword choices too.


For an excellent learning resource on how to drive you organic traffic through keywords visit http://tourismkeys.ca/lesson_1.html This lesson is industry specific, but with only very little imagination it really applies to all industries.


For additional information on making powerful keyword choices, which are based on what people are actually searching for visit https://adwords.google.ca/select/KeywordToolExternal


The keywords that are important to your organization should appear in the body of your text as well as META TITLE, META DESCRIPTION, and META KEYWORDS. This builds keyword density, and keyword density is important in building organic traffic.


Good luck with using your META TAGS!

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For more information on broadband and technology in Muskoka, visit the Muskoka Community Network website at
www.mcnet.ca