Meta tags - should they be unique for each page on a site?

[gil857]

On each page of my website, I'm using the php function require("header") for my meta tag description and keywords so that I only have to change it in one place, should I want to modify it a bit later. But now I'm wondering if it is better to have a unique page description or keywords tag targeted to the more specific content of the page, for seo purposes. Any one have any advice?

Thanks

[Resonate]

Good Question! I personally believe in experimenting to see what works and what does not however you must also take into consideration what your content is like site-wide. On one site i have i have all keywords and description the same as the content is the same through out the website evolving around that one topic, this site is now PR4. On another website content changes and is not so specific on this website i have a unique tagging on all pages to reflect that of the content on the pages.

So depending on your website content if it is a lot of different material it would be better to have a unique data for each page.

Hope this is of some use. :)

[stymiee]

Technically you should have unique meta tags for each page as each page is judged on its own merit. Especially the meta description tag which may be shown in the SERPs.

But it really a big deal since since meta tags don't affect search engine rankings anyway. Having the same ones on every page won't affect your rankings or hurt your site in any way except for what I mentioned above.

[GiorgosK]

From other discussion I have gathered that

1. Meta keywords are almost obsolete ...

2. meta description is used as a the text in search results some times (or most of the times) but does not really count in your ranking but people will read it before they click your link ...

So with that said I would not bother with meta keywords at all, and maybe focus on having a unique description for each of your pages (something similar to your title for each one)

As for myself I have a site with more than 40 pages and all of them have the same exact meta keywords and description with no penalties (at least apparent ones)

[cscgal]

I believe every page should have unique keywords and description meta tags. For me, it's a usability issue.

[getitinwriting]

I was kind of surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that if you have the same meta keywords and descriptions for each page, there is a MUCH higher chance that google will throw that page into the suplemental index, essentially making sure no one ever sees that page in a result page. Whenever you have pages on your site that are very similar, google is forced to pick an "authority page" this page is then used in the regular results, and the pages not deemed as authorities are dumped into the supplemental index.

[GiorgosK]

^^^^^ I have a site of more than 40 pages and all of them have the same exact keywords and description meta tags for almost a year and a half now, i have been enjoying some nice traffic from all the search engines (no supplemental results whatsoever)

[stymiee]

I was kind of surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that if you have the same meta keywords and descriptions for each page, there is a MUCH higher chance that google will throw that page into the suplemental index, essentially making sure no one ever sees that page in a result page. Whenever you have pages on your site that are very similar, google is forced to pick an "authority page" this page is then used in the regular results, and the pages not deemed as authorities are dumped into the supplemental index.

That's a myth.

[cscgal]

If it were true, I suspect it was from years ago when meta tags played a more important role.

[getitinwriting]

It dont think this is a myth, do a google search for:

site: www.completecounselingsolutions.com

I'm sure that much of it has to do with the sites having the same title tags, but meta descriptions probably play a role with sites that have little else in the way of on page content such as these.

[stymiee]

It dont think this is a myth, do a google search for:

site: www.completecounselingsolutions.com

I'm sure that much of it has to do with the sites having the same title tags, but meta descriptions probably play a role with sites that have little else in the way of on page content such as these.

You have to do more then say "I'm sure that much of it has to do with the sites having the same title tags". Do you have any evidence? Are you sure it is "because of" and not "despite of"? There are so many factors affecting a page on Google's SERPs that you can't just make a blanket assumption. Especially when other factors have been confirmed by Google as being primary causes of a page going supplemental. The odds are those pages have low PR and that is the cause.

[Resonate]

Many people have tried and tested with unique and the same through out two separate websites, I have also tried this and personally i found no difference between them. As for pages of the same been put into supplemental index it cant be possible as none of the sites i have used this method on have ended up there! the supplemental index has been found to be no more then obsolete, pointless and out of date pages.

As i have said before & i know many others also do the same is to experiment with different parts & see what you personally think is an improvement, Search engines are forever and no doubt keep on changing as for us we can stick to the basics, experiment & try to keep close behind them.

[gil857]

Thanks for all the replies. I am going to go back and make the tags specific to the page. I will post if I see any difference, but I probably won't see anything since I just started working on my site again and it is only a few pages right now.

[guinanie]

You are right it is better to have a unique page description or keywords tag on each page especially the index page. Select competitive and related keywords and contents that make your site accessible to users.

[sachin9sharma]

yes it is really a good question, while promoting a website Title,Description and Keywords must be different on all pages.
By doing this you will have a collection of good keywords and don't forget to use keywords on the same page. if you face any problem u can go through free seo tutorial.

For more queiry visit

http://www.freeseolesson.blogspot.com

[MktgRob]

I would suggest a simple test to determine if you can go with the same set of meta tags on each page or if you should change them up. Is the focus of each page fundamentally the same or does each have a specific focus. For example, if you are a software company who sells multiple software packages that each address a different function, such as storage, anti-virus, & data analysis, and each has a unique page, then each would have a different set of meta tags.

I had this problem and what I did was I created a master list of meta tags for the home page of the site. Within the master list were subsets that dealt with each of the different software application the company sold, which I used on each of the corresponding pages.

[dkwired.com]

its been a while since somebody posted here last but any new advice on meta tags?

[shaniadavid]

Well its good to target different pages of your website with different keywords.. Targeted specific keywords must be included in meta keywords ... If u have multiple pages among the rankings you will get larger traffic to your website..

[amrish2338]

use different meta for all pagese because search engines show results by using this

[joy12]

Every page must have different meta tags information according to the web page content.