I can’t say that I’m really surprised, but Google just announced that the meta keyword and meta description tags of websites have absolutely no bearing on search ranking via their Webmaster Blog. Google’s hand was forced on this announcement, as there are whispers that some lawsuits were arising as a result of companies using competitor’s brand names in meta keywords. So how should this news alter our daily routines?
Well, it really shouldn’t change anything. Most webmasters, including myself, usually spend no more than 2 minutes writing up a meta keywords tag, including some popular misspellings, brand names, and any relevant keywords not found within the page body. If you spend any more time on the meta keywords, you might want to dial that back. I wouldn’t necessarily stop bothering with them altogether as Google states it is possible, however unlikely, that they will be factored into rankings in the future. Not to mention the fact that Google isn’t the only search engine out there, and there has been no comment from the other guys.
But then there’s the issue of the meta description! I’m a fan of the meta description because it tends to not get the love it deserves, and with this announcement it may get worse. Webmasters and SEO folks mustn’t forget that your meta description is like ad copy for organic search! So stop stuffing your descriptions with unnatural sentences to boost keyword density, and try and entice anyone that may come across your site in the SERPs with a well crafted meta description. Take a look at my post from a few months back for tips on optimizing your title tag and meta descriptions.
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