Everyday I am amazed by the countless number of pointless tags that are inserted into the header of a website. The largest issue with such tags is that they push a website’s content further down within the source code of the page. I will freely admit that Google and the other search engines are looking deeper into pages to find a page’s actual content, but why make the search engines work that hard? Included below are a few of the most common worthless tags inserted into the header information of a webpage and why they carry no value in a SEO campaign.
<strong><META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="INDEX, FOLLOW"></strong>
The reason this value carries such little weight is that a search engine will spider a page without regardless of whether a webmaster includes such header information. As long as there are links pointing to the page, from pages that have PR, then the Google will find the pages. The only time this header tag is of value is when a webmaster wishes to stop the search engine from following a page and even in this circumstance the search engine may ignore the instructions provided. A robots.txt file is always the preferred method to exclude pages and also the method that most search engines will heed.
<strong><META NAME="REVISIT-AFTER"></strong>
This is yet another tag that is commonly ignored by the search engines. The search spiders have their own schedules and frequency upon which they decide to visit webpages. Telling a spider to visit a site more frequently simply does not work.
<strong><META NAME="COPYRIGHT"></strong>
Yet another meaningless tag to insert into the header information of a webpage. While I can certainly understand why a web designer or possibly even an SEO company might want to place their contact information in such a field, my advice is to resist the urge. First if the idea behind adding such a tag is to prevent others from copying the source code, then it is a waste of time, since unique content posted on a website is already copyrighted by existing U.S. and international laws. Now if the idea is to use this space as an advertisement then a company should still resist the urge. Rarely will people look at the copyright information in the source and then contact the respective web design or SEO company. This tag, as the others above simply move the page’s content further down in the source code.
There are many other worthless tags that webmasters add to a site’s pages. Next time you visit a webpage take a look at the source code and more often than not, the header information will contain unneeded tags. Please take advantage of the comment section to post tags you deem as worthless.
Brent Yorzinski is the owner of the SEO Company Agilis Marketing. Despite his young age and even younger appearance he has successfully helped hundreds of companies achieve top search rankings on Google, Yahoo, and the other major search engines.
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Comments
22 responses so far ↓
Josh Pike on Dec 13, 2007 at 4:27 pm
I think that you could argue that the meta keyword tag is pretty useless as well.
Danny Ashton on Dec 14, 2007 at 5:06 am
Meta keyword tag might not work for Google but I have seen it help for the other engines.
Deb Harrison on Dec 14, 2007 at 9:03 am
Meta keywords works for Yahoo and (I think) MSN.
I still use it not just for the niche directories that often ask for a separate list of keywords, but also as a constant reminder of which keyphrases are being used for for each page.
SEO Specialist - Terry Reeves on Dec 14, 2007 at 9:30 am
I put misspellings in meta keyword tags and a physical address if it is relevant to the website. Google will index information in the meta keyword tag, though it will not necessarily rank any pages for what it finds there. I have seen Google point to a business address that was only listed in the meta keyword tag.
I have never been a believer that the keyword tag is completely useless. Until it is declared useless, I will use it. I think anyone who does not use it is cutting corners.
WebSite Design Orange County on Dec 14, 2007 at 11:04 am
I agree with Deb, many clients wish to rank on multiple key phrases and the only way to do this is through the meta tag(s). Of course the content is going to help dictate this as well, but the search engines still use meta tags - just look at the SERPs.
Search Marketing Blog on Dec 14, 2007 at 2:00 pm
I think the meta keyword tag is still valuable - Bruce Clay did some tests a while back (sorry I couldn’t find the link) ‘proving’ that at least a few of the engines still rely on the tag for ranking purposes.
I use it - regardless. If nothing else it serves as a personal reminder. When I revisit the optimization or content I know exactly which keywords I was targeting when I optimized the page originally.
SEO Specialist - Terry Reeves on Dec 14, 2007 at 2:33 pm
I recently got back from the Bruce Clay workshop and he does advise the use of the meta keywords. He also mentioned the testing he had done with that tag. I have also done some testing on my own. Personal experience will always clarify the rumors and misinformation that spreads so quickly in SEO.
Agilis Search Marketing on Dec 14, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Thank you for all the sphinns and comments. If possible please try to keep this comments section related to a variety of meta tags without value.
I mentioned the importance of the Keywords tag in another article:
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/the-importance-of-keywords-meta-tag-in-seo/6014/
i.e. another useless tag is the author one.
Phil on Dec 15, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Adding damaging code to a page would be worse than just useless tags. It does speak of the “quality” of the respective SEOs though.
noindex, follow on Dec 16, 2007 at 11:45 am
I am using “ROBOTS” meta-tag to devastating advantage!
Afkin on Dec 16, 2007 at 6:46 pm
I have never seen any of my web-pages crawled or indexed if I instruct them not to do so (no-index no-follow)
Elegance in Design on Dec 16, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Alfkin, the noindex/nofollow tags are not rules for search engines. As a matter of fact some SEs ignore them. However they are guidelines which we hope will allow us to control our content and how it’s indexed. But a guideline is very different from a rule.
As for tag vs. robots.txt. The tag is depreciated. It’s the same as using versus . While both may achieve a bolder text is the preferred method as it gives credence to the text. Same thing as using tables for design vs. divs. Both may give you the same appearance but divs are valued more highly as it is lighter and allows greater control.
Elegance in Design on Dec 16, 2007 at 7:26 pm
It formatted my and tags. =) Too funny!
Alphane Moon on Dec 18, 2007 at 3:16 pm
I have seen a meta-tag name=”PageRank” content=”4″ sometimes, that is funny :)
Local SEO Specialist - Terry Reeves on Dec 18, 2007 at 7:33 pm
” I have seen a meta-tag name=”PageRank” content=”4″ sometimes, that is funny :) ”
Now that is what I call wishful thinking!
Elegance in Design on Dec 19, 2007 at 3:25 pm
“I have seen a meta-tag name=”PageRank” content=”4″ sometimes, that is funny :) ”
“Now that is what I call wishful thinking!”
Some people really believe in will it into reality. I guess this is just another example. ;)
SEO Web Design on Jan 19, 2008 at 8:46 am
What our author here is trying to bring across is meta tags that has of no value. For example, if you are asking the robots NOT to index your site, you then place the . But if you aren’t, then what is the point of placing
I have done a simple experiment in the past by reducing my page size to less than 15k which was ranked #4. And in just 4-5 days, it over-ranked the #3 site which was weighted 46k and took its position at #3.
By reducing useless tags, you are reducing the loading time and also allows the spiders to crawl your site easily. It helps in SEO.
Goran Giertz - Website Marketing on Jan 27, 2008 at 9:56 am
Our local directories in South Africa rely on the keywords tag. Thus leaving them out guarantees lower positioning.
“I have seen a meta-tag name=”PageRank” content=”4″ sometimes, that is funny :)”
Now that is funny, but why a 4 and not a 8 or even 10.
Have an exSeollent 2008
Greg Website Design South Africa on Jan 27, 2008 at 9:59 am
I have seen a meta-tag name=”PageRank” content=”4″ sometimes
Please post the website, hahahaaahaha
kac on Mar 26, 2008 at 5:21 am
good post, i was really searching for post regarding Meta tag, to gain more knowledge about using tags for seo. thanks for doing a good job.
Car Social Network on May 15, 2008 at 4:27 am
Reduce the page size does help in ranking most of my websites. Noticed significant rank changes over the week.
Automotive Social Network on May 25, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Worthless meta tags are simply building the size of your webpage. However, it really depends on which search engines we are looking at.
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