Hardly a week goes by without us hearing someone touting the value of meta tags in some form or fashion. It’s been years since they have had any relevance in site rankings, but they are an easy sell for an “SEO expert” to a customer who doesn’t work in the web industry day in and day out. Why? Because just like most scams, this one is based in some sort of truth, albeit an outdated one.

It’s true that in years past (many years past), the meta keywords and descriptions tags were helpful. But they haven’t worked in a long time, and now they are just an easy way for a “SEO guy” to help you to part with your hard earned income. We’ve already buried the Meta Keywords tag in our article, “Meta Keywords Tag: Long Dead, But Still Not Gone.” This time around, we’re taking aim directly at the Meta Description tag.

First, a little background.

The Meta Description tag tells Google and other search engines what to say underneath the title of each page on your web site in their rankings, as in the example below.

In the absence of this tag, Google will simply use the first portion of your pages’ content.

Now that we are clear on what the tag does, let’s explore why it is no longer effective in determining search engine rankings. Google’s own blog states that “Even though we sometimes use the description meta tag for the snippets we show, we still don’t use the description meta tag in our ranking.” Translation? Google may choose to show the description within their index, but it will never make an impact on your search engine rankings.

Is there ever a reason to use the tag?

Yes. If you want to craft the message that visitors will see below the title of your page in Google, then the Meta Description tag is the way to go. Just don’t expect to put in 100 keywords and raise your rankings.

In Conclusion.

Both the Meta Keyword and Description tag are USELESS in increasing your search engine rankings. The next time you get an e-mail or a phone call from somebody who says they can raise your rankings in Google by embedding new meta tags on your site, send them this article and watch their subsequent squirming. That’s all folks!

Myth #1: Forget wasting my time writing good content, Adwords will do the work for me, right?

Yes and no. Yes, if you want to keep piling money into adwords, you will keep bringing in traffic. But, the moment you stop paying for adwords, you are right back where you were before but with less money in your pocket. Google Adwords will not increase your organic rankings. It’s worth saying this again, because it seems to be a very pervasive myth, Google Adwords will not increase your organic rankings.

You can spend $100 million dollars, but as soon as that money is gone, so is the traffic that was created. You can’t throw money at your search engine rankings and hope that they will raise. Now, that’s not to say Adwords doesn’t have it’s place, it’s great for sites with a low organic ranking to start (ie a new web site, or one that has recently been redesigned and is still being indexed), as well as for bringing in traffic in an incredibly competitive arena (we use Adwords ourselves), but the fact is that organic rankings are always more important and valuable to your company than paid rankings.

Myth #2: People will search for my site using industry jargon.

This one is less a myth than an attitude. Consciously or not, most people tend to write their content from the perspective of an industry insider (you know your industry better than anyone, right?), and don’t think to review their content with the people who matter most, their customers and potential customers. If you sell “Information Technology” but someone is looking for an “IT guy,” you lose, plain and simple.

Thankfully, there is a quick remedy. Talk to four or five people who are outside of your industry, and ask them “if you were looking to buy a (insert product or service here) online, what would you type into Google to find it?” Take those phrases and words, and make sure that they are actually on your web site. If they aren’t, then add them in, in context on your web site.

If it means removing some of your industry jargon, all the better, as visitors probably don’t know what they mean anyway. If your industry is highly technical, consider a page that provides straightforward definitions for some of your more complex terms. This has the added benefit of giving you a great place to write the list of phrases that you have gleaned in talking to your customers.

Myth #3: I heard that I can just write the top 100 keywords on my page, in no particular order, in the description of my product and call it a day.

You could do that, but you’d run the risk of annoying your customers. No one likes to see a page full of paragraphs of nonsensical content when they are looking to purchase from you. It shows that you have shady morals, or at the very least that you don’t really care that your description doesn’t make sense. And since Google can read your content almost in the manner that a person does, they will quickly notice that your text is garbage.

Myth #4: Someone told me I can hide text on my site by writing it in the same color as my background.

Yes, we still hear this one, and no it won’t work. Google is way too smart to be tricked by an obvious scheme like this one. Enough said.

Myth #5: I heard that Meta Keywords are important, and I want to add them to each page of my site.

This is a complete waste of time. Instead, take that hard work you spent making a list of keywords for each page and put it to good use, by making sure that those are actually written on your web site in some context. If they aren’t, consider rewriting the content. For more on meta tags, read our article entitled “Meta Keywords Tag: Long Dead, But Still Not Gone.”

Take these tips to heart in your writing, and take a hard look at your web site. When is the last time that you isolated half a day to cover your web site’s content? Just how old is what you wrote on there? Does the site even mention your latest products or services? What about the ones that you no longer offer, are they still prominently displayed? Set aside a day’s worth of time every few months (at a minimum) to focus on your web site. In particular, take these words to heart if you just said to yourself “the web site doesn’t bring us enough business to justify spending time on it.”

The web site doesn’t bring you business because you have not taken the time to create value. Make your site a resource, and you will have no shortage of business coming from it.