SERP snippets are based on the user’s query Google will pick its own preferred search snippet for SERPs for display purposes, based on elements that can still be influenced by whoever made the page (and site) – and what Google knows about the page. Sometimes, yes, at least in the case of the meta description, but not always, and this is dependent on many factors. QUOTE: “ can affect the way that users see your site in the search results and whether or not they actually click through to your site. John Mueller 2017 Do meta tags control your search snippet listing on Google? ![]() I have built tools that can identify doorway pages, for instance, by analysing meta tags – so Google will certainly be able to do even more. Pages are supposed to ‘ stand on their own‘ – perhaps algorithms check that they do, and that you are not using low-quality techniques to generate them. Perhaps Google looks at how unique your meta description IS relative to other pages on your site. I do this because Google says they don’t like that practice – and it is in their guidelines NOT to do it. I look for duplicate boilerplate text in meta descriptions, as they are often a sign of lower-quality pages. Google may use metadata, amongst many other signals, to CLASSIFY pages, or DISPLAY information about a page in SERPs, although, in natural results in the UK, I see its impact, where it can be detected, when used at all, being used mainly for DISPLAY purposes. It is more likely, I think, that Google would look for abuse in such tags and penalise it in some way, rather than reward it. Meta Data can help describe any page in a more convenient machine-readable format, more suited to search engines, but they are very likely to get spammed, and so ultimately limited on their own when it comes to ranking documents on the web. QUOTE: “it’s not the case that changing your descriptions or making them longer or shorter or tweaking them or putting keywords in there will affect your site’s ranking.” John Mueller 2017 What do meta tags do in SEO? In short, Google does not use information in the keywords meta tag or the description meta tag to actually rank pages, but it does use the meta description text to create search snippets. Google is on record as saying it does not use some data in meta when ranking a page (in a positive way) and tests throughout the years have certainly seemed to confirm this. Some search engines once looked for hidden HTML tags like these to help order pages in search engine results pages, but most search engines have evolved past this, and Google certainly has. Does Google use what is in meta tags for ranking pages? Google’s advice about most on-page elements and meta tags is a lot clearer than what it was when I first wrote about this topic (back in 2007!). meta keywords (optional, ignored by Google and Bing)īelow I share my observations over the years.meta description (optional, potentially important for click-through rates and used by Google for display purposes, sometimes).What are the most important meta tags for SEO?įor the purposes of this ‘ beginners guide to meta tags, I focus on the three meta tags I am asked about the most: Abuse them, and you might fall foul of Google’s punitive quality algorithms. to improve click-through rates from the SERP. Meta tags, when used properly can still be useful in a number of areas outside just ranking pages e.g. In my experience, most Meta tags do not noticeably influence where a page ranks in Google, in a positive way. Ranking high in Google has far more to do with relevance and reputation of high-quality content, user satisfaction and online popularity than simple meta tag optimisation. (They) are added to the section of your HTML page.” Google, 2020 Do meta tags help SEO? (They) can be used to provide information to all sorts of clients, and each system processes only the meta tags they understand and ignores the rest. QUOTE: “Meta tags are a great way for Webmasters to provide search engines with information about their sites. Meta Tags are used by Google and other search engines in some not-so-obvious ways. Both search engines ignore meta keyword data. You can safely ignore optimising meta keyword tags for search engines like Google and Bing. If you want to ensure you get every bit of credit for your own text, ensure the text you use is repeated on the page.Programmatically generate meta descriptions on larger sites.Make meta tags unique to the page they refer to. ![]() Write at least a 20-word summary of your page.When it comes to meta tags for Google Search, don’t overthink them. This is a beginner’s guide to meta descriptions and meta keywords and offers you an introduction to the basics of Google search engine optimisation. If you are a beginner to SEO (search engine optimisation) and want to learn about the basics of SEO, you are in the right place.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |