8 Game Changing Meta Tags for SEO

Updated July 8, 2022

Meta tags for are HTML tags that describe your page content to search engines and website visitors. The meta tags appear only in the page’s code, and anyone can check them via a website’s source code.

Meta tags for SEO are key because they tell search engines what a page is about. Think of them as the first impression for all search engines.

According to John Mueller, webmaster trends analyst at Google, “meta tags can affect the way that users see your site in the search results and whether or not they actually click through to your site.

Meta tags for SEO matter, but not all of them are equally important. In this article, I’ll discuss the most important meta tags for you to focus on.

Interested in learning more about how to leverage SEO for your business? Reach out to an expert today. 

What Are Meta Tags?

Simply put, meta tags are tags within the HTML code of your website that describe the different components of your site to search engines. These tags allow Bing or Google search algorithms to read descriptions of the makeup of your site.

There are different types of meta tags that indicate different aspects of your site to search engines. See below for a definition of some of the most common tags:

• Meta Title Tag: An HTML element that communicates the title of a web page to search engines
• Meta Description Tag: An HTML element that summarizes the content of a web page for search engines
• Meta Keyword Tag: An HTML element that communicates target keywords related to the content of a web page to search engines
• Meta Robots Tag: An HTML element that instructs search engine bots on how to read the content of a web page

If you‘re not an expert in HTML but still want to incorporate meta tags into your website, many content management systems such as WordPress include SEO plugins that make it easy to add and edit meta tags.

Why Are Meta Tags Important?

While they themselves are not a ranking factor for search engines, high-quality meta tags are essential to effective digital marketing and technical SEO.

When your pages come up in search results, search engine users will read your meta title and meta description as the page title and the description of its content. Based on the poignancy of this metadata, searchers will make their decision on whether or not to navigate to your page.

With their prevalence in the search engine user experience, effective meta tags can increase conversions, decrease bounce rates by making the purpose of pages clear, improve on-page SEO, and provide a vetting system for any duplicate content on your site.

How to Check A Website’s Meta Tags for SEO Purposes

If you want to check the meta tags for any page, just right-click anywhere on the page and select “View Page Source.”

You can also use tools such as SEMrush (specifically the SEMrush Audit Tool) and Screaming Frog to check the meta tags on any site.

More Tools to Optimize Meta Tags

• Yoast SEO
• SEO plugins such as Semrush or Google Keyword Planner
• Google Search Console

The Most Important Meta Tags for SEO

In this article, I'll walk you through the 8 most important meta tags for SEO:

1. Title Tag
2. Meta Description
3. Canonical Tag
4. Alternative Text Tag
5. Robots Meta Tag
6. Open Graph Meta Tags and Twitter Cards
7. Header Tags
8. Responsive Design Meta Tags

By using these meta tags, you can boost your website's SEO.

1. Title Tag

The title tag is the first HTML element that specifies what your web page is about. Title tags are important for SEO and visitors because they appear in the search engine results page (SERP) and in browser tabs.

For example, you can see the title tag in the browser tab header of this Templatemonster post.

The title element supports all browsers including Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

Always add your title tag in the

About the Author

Ashok Sharma Digital Strategist

Ashok Sharma is a writer, blogger, digital marketer, and social media enthusiast. He helps businesses gain more traffic and online visibility through technical, strategic SEO, and targeted PPC campaigns. Connect with him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter for a quick chat.

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