SEO 101: What about Keywords?

You may find it hard to believe, but tending to your website meta keywords will do next to nothing for your website’s search engine optimization.

Why? Because back when meta keywords were relevant (way, way back in the 2000s) search engine spammers abused the tag to try to obtain the top spot.

Now search engines focus on the actual content on your pages. This is good for everyone, because searchers want specific content, and if you’re providing it, they’ll find you based on its merit. According to Google, “Interesting sites will increase their recognition on their own. Creating compelling and useful content will likely influence your website more than any of the other factor….”

Most SEO folks go so far as to call meta keywords obsolete. So when you’re planning your search engine optimization work, don’t get bogged down in this keyword tag. Instead, think about how people will find you, and provide content that includes (naturally) those words and phrases.

Whew. It’s nice to mark something off the list!