Only three things are certain in this world: Death, Taxes, and Meta Tags. Long regarded as useless, officially and often labeled as such by Google itself, the meta keywords tag alas still manages to persevere.

I have a theory as to why meta tags won’t just “rest in peace.” I think it’s because it is very easy for a so-called “SEO Expert” to sell an unsuspecting business owner on the idea. Why? Because adding meta tags to a site takes a minute or less per page, and the tags can be generated from one of a hundred free keyword tools.

It’s easy money for them. And, I think I can safely say that everyone with a computer has probably heard the phrase “meta tags” tossed around at some point in the past as a way to increase search engine rankings. It’s comforting to believe that high web rankings can be achieved simply by adding in some hidden keywords, but it’s just not true.

The harsh reality here is that these people won’t help you increase your rankings. Sure, there might be a few misguided souls who used to build web sites in the late 90′s when the technique was mildly effective, and who still honestly believe that is still the case. But most of them just want your money, and don’t care that they won’t help you.

It’s time to confront these people/companies and ask them to explain how spending your hard-earned money on meta tags will help you, when Google’s official blog states: “…we generally ignore the contents of the “keywords” meta tag.”