1. You should have a separate page for each major customer product/service/need that you address, and the title tag should focus on the unique content of the page:
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2. Do not use the same title tag on more than one page. This just causes them to compete with each other in the search results. If the pages are not really different, than why would they both exist? This suggests a bad search engine experience, and the search engines don't like it either.
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Description Metatag
This metatag also sees limited use by search engines. Like the keywords metatag, it is not generally speaking user visible. I know of no search engine that considers the content of the description metatag for page ranking purposes. However, a search engine may use your description metatag as the description of your page that it displays in search results.
Google, for example, does this if it can't find enough text on your page to develop a good page summary on its own. For that reason, you should make sure that you write a good description metatag for your pages. Since this description may show up in the search results shown by search engines, you want the description to be well written enough that it will help entice the user to click on the link to your site instead of a link to someone else's site.
Keep the description metatag crisp, just a few lines of text. Don't stuff it with keywords. Remember, search engines do not use this tag for ranking purposes. Write something that tells the user why they should come to your page - what benefit will they get by doing so. Straightforward, basic marketing. Here is a simple example:
<meta name="description" content="Blue Widgets: Low Cost, High Quality
Blue Widgets available for Order Online. Delivered to your Doorstep in
48 hours or less." />
Keywords Metatag
So should you implement a keywords metatag? I never do. If someone in your company is insistent, than spend 10 seconds or less and pick some keywords that relate to the unique aspects of the page.
Robots Metatag
The Robots metatag is relatively new. Both Google and Bind support this tag. It is designed to allow you to tell a search engine when you do not want it to index your page, and/or when you do not want the search engine to look at or evaluate any of the links on your page. The basic format of the metatag is:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow">
You can specify either attribute, both attributes, or neither attribute by simply not including the robots metatag. Click here for more detailed information on the robots metatag
Summary
Understanding how to use metatags can be useful. The title tag is critical, the description metatag is important, and the Robots metatag can be useful in certain situations. Prioritize your time accordingly!
About the Author
Eric Enge is the Founder and President of Stone Temple Consulting (STC). STC offers Internet marketing optimization services, including SEO, Social Media and PPC optimization, and its web site can be found at ajmalseotips.blogspot.com
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