Meta keywords

Definition

Meta keywords are keywords that are assigned to a document, page, or article. They are usually included in the meta tags of an HTML document. They are used by search engines to identify and categorize a website or article. While Meta keywords used to be an important practice for improving the Search engine optimization were, they are now no longer relevant for SEO.

How meta keywords have worked in the past

In the past, meta keywords were an important part of the Search engine optimization (SEO). Meta keywords are short, descriptive phrases or words inserted in a special meta tag in the HTML code of a web page. These keywords should summarize the main topics and focus of the page in question and help search engines find the Relevance of the page for specific search queries.

To give you an example: If a website focused on "organic apple juice," the meta keywords for that page might be "organic apple juice, natural apple juice, healthy apple juice." Search engines like Google would then use these meta keywords to display the page in search results when users searched for these terms.

However, over time there have been problems with the use of meta keywords as a ranking factor:

1. Keyword stuffing: Many website operators began to use the meta-Keyword-Tag zu missbrauchen, indem sie es mit einer Vielzahl von Keywords füllten, die nicht unbedingt relevant für den Inhalt der Seite waren. Dies führte dazu, dass Suchmaschinen Seiten mit irrelevanten Inhalten in den Suchergebnissen präsentierten, was für die Nutzer unbefriedigend war.
2. Manipulation of rankings: Da die Meta-Keywords im HTML-Code der Seite und nicht im sichtbaren Inhalt enthalten sind, konnten Webseitenbetreiber leicht ihre Rankings manipulieren, indem sie unzählige Keywords in das Meta-Keyword-Tag einfügten, ohne dass dies für den Besucher sichtbar war.

Due to these problems and abuses, search engines, including Google, have greatly reduced the value of meta keywords as a ranking factor over time. Today, meta keywords are no longer used as a ranking factor by most search engines, including Google. Instead, search engines focus on analyzing the actual content of a page and the user experience to determine the Relevance and quality of the site for specific search queries.

Disadvantages

As already mentioned above Meta keywords no longer have any effect on search engine positioning. Moreover, they can even have a negative effect for search engines, as adding too many keywords excessively can be considered spam.

Example 1

Let's assume that you are starting a new business that deals with renting beach houses on the Baltic Sea. You want to be displayed in the search results when users search for beach houses on the Baltic Sea. In this case you can use the following Meta keywords add: "beach houses, Baltic Sea, rent, beach, vacation".

Example 2

Let us assume that you want to publish an article about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. In this case you can use the following Meta keywords add: "Health, nutrition, lifestyle, sports, exercise".

Conclusion

The use of Meta keywords does not provide any advantages for your search engine positioning. With incorrect application of the Meta keywords it can even lead to a worse ranking in the search results.