100% completely untrue. Meta Tags are not used to rank websites any more. Google doesn't use them. MSN doesn't use them. And Yahoo doesn't use them.
The only meta tag (between the description and keywords tag) that has a use is the description tag. But it is not used for rankings. Google, and MSN, will use a page's meta description tag in the absence of a Dmoz description (or you use the 'noodp' meta tag) and absence of relevant text on a web page. In those cases they may display the contents of your meta description tag. But, once again, this only affect the display of your page in the SERPs. It does NOT affect your rankings.
Meta tags have not been used in years and for good reason. They were, and still are, terribly abused by webmasters. Plus the fact that they are 100% in the control of webmasters and in no way affect the user's experience makes them useless for search engines. After all, why would they rely on something webmasters can abuse with impunity when they have the ability to determine the relevance of a page through many other advanced methods?
Meta tags are dead for SEO and have been for years. Using them will not improve your rankings.
stymiee
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3,360 posts since May 2006
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It's not the meta tags that got you listed. You'll be listed even if you don't use Meta tags. They'll list every page they can find. That's their goal and their job. If you can't get your site listed either you've been caught cheating (i.e. using black hat techniques) or your site is inaccessible which the fault of a poor design.
And getting listed as nothing to do with rankings. And that is what everyone is after, getting better rankings.
stymiee
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3,360 posts since May 2006
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Here's the bottom line: meta tags do not help your rankings and do not help you get listed. If you take an existing site and add meta tags nothing will happen. If you submit a site without meta tags it will be listed.
I can show you other examples of Yahoo finding misspellings and obscure phrases (like 8 words long) through meta tags. That means they read them (which I do believe they publicly disclose) but that doesn't mean they use them for ranking or listing purposes.
What matters, and what everyone cares about, is the effect on their pages' listings that meta tags have, and that is nothing. Saying meta tags are good for SEO is untrue and hasn't been for a long time.
stymiee
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3,360 posts since May 2006
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Everyone does not have their own techniques. It's not like baking a cake where there are different recipes with each producing a different result. Meta tags don't work for everybody. Search engines don't arbitrarily decide they will use meta tags from sites a, c, and e but not from sites b, d, and f. They have an algorithm and it applies to every web page equally.
And SEO is not complicated. Lots of people like to think it is complicated and would like others to think it is complicated so they can sell them their services. But SEO is easy and straight forward. Anyone can do it themselves and learning it is easy. The first rule is always, "it's not as complex as you think". So many people like to think their are tricks and techniques for ranking well. There aren't. There are a handful of basic principles that if followed will result in success.
stymiee
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3,360 posts since May 2006
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My idea of SEOing a site is making the site usable and accessible and then filling it with high quality content. Without even specifically mentioning or targeting SEO a site will do well in the search engines following that formula.
stymiee
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3,360 posts since May 2006
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some major search engines use meta-tag descriptions when displaying a search query's results, it's important to write a meta-tag description that accomplishes two goals:Help obtain a good ranking in search engines that use meta tags to determine relevancy
Elicit a call to action, that is, encourage people to click the link to your Web page
Candy_ME
Junior Poster in Training
65 posts since Mar 2007
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I do agree with you Stymiee! SEO is not complicated in any manner. What you need to do is put your efforts on a regular basis on a simple and on going manner.
jack jastin
Junior Poster in Training
82 posts since Mar 2011
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In my opinion, search engines make use of meta data to display websites on how the site owner would like Search Engines to understand what their site is all about. Effective use of these meta data enables search engines to get the data and present it to user more quickly and accurately.
charlenej
Junior Poster in Training
60 posts since Apr 2011
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