Google Decrees: Meta Keyword and Description Don’t Factor Into Rankings
by Mike Pantoliano. Posted on September 21st, 2009 in Search Engine Optimization
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.
6 Comments
Minneapolis Marketing - Scott DeToffol Says:
This was something we “knew” already, but it sure is nice to have official confirmation. Google needs to be more forthright and specific about these things.
I agree we need to include keywords for the other engines until we hear otherwise, but they need less focus and energy spent on them.
This announcement will actually help SEM pros with meta descriptions because we can point our clients to this clarification and write them for users on the SERP and not worry about unnatural keyword stuffing.
Ryan Says:
Google may be keeping the selectivity based on META tags on the back burner for all we know. Just when people catch on to an optimization methodology that seems to be working, BAM, google throws the switch and makes meta tag descriptions a deciding factor.
Just a wild guess. They’ll trick us again one day.
I found that META descriptions don’t have much weight, though at least for my site. I made the mistake one time of copying and modding a template a I made for my wife’s site, but accidentally left the old meta keywords and description in there for MY site from which it came. Didn’t affect her site though in terms of rankings, and the keywords I optimized it for were still popping her site up in the first 10 pages (semi broad terms).
Online Marketing Minneapolis Says:
Just this week at SMX East 2009 Yahoo claimed that they ignore meta keywords as well. Jill Whalen is claiming that her tests prove that they still index keywords. So, who knows. There is a long history of the search engine companies making misleading statements.
Merchant Account Pro Says:
Google may not use the meta description in ranking, but you want a great description that gets people to click on your listing. Once you get ranked, the description and title tag is your ad copy and it needs to be good so the users will click on it. That is the whole purpose behind getting rank, to get traffic and you do that by getting clicks!
Brian Says:
Google’s blog post was only about the meta “keyword” tag, not about the meta description tag, so I think your statement is somewhat inaccurate.
However, there are been many SEO companies using their own data who have written about the meta description tag and how it does not correlate strongly with rankings (SEOmoz is one such company). Nevertheless, even if the meta description is not a ranking factor as a previous poster said you cannot ignore it because it has a great impact on click-throughs from SERPs.
Brian Says:
Actually, I stand corrected, I just saw their comment about the meta description in the blog post…my bad!