There is a pervasive myth that key words in Meta Tags make a difference in search engine results. Many Realtors still believe this, but it simply isn't true.

Meta Tags, you might recall, are simply standard bits of data added to the code that defines Web pages. Meta Tags can contain key words, site descriptions, authorship and copyright data, and more. You can check your own site for Meta Tags simply by choosing View > Source from your web browser.

Here's an example of what a Keyword Meta Tag might look like. I took this from a RealtyTimes.com Web page:

META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="Real Estate News, Newsletter, Real Estate, News, Advice, Buying a Home, Selling a Home, Apartments, Rentals"

The original idea was that these tags would make it easy for search engines to locate relevant sites. Great idea, but no one considered the fact that each Webmaster writes their own Meta Tags. No one polices these Meta Tags for accuracy or honesty! So Webmaster after Webmaster started to manipulate their Meta Tags to get more traffic. It didn't take too long for search engines to figure out that Meta Tags are at best a weak indicator of a site's relevance, and often better just ignored.

This was years ago, in the stone age of the web. Savvy search engine optimizers made statements such as "Meta Tags are not a magic solution" and moved on to tweak things that actually made a difference. Yet here we are, years later, and too many people and companies are still talking about Meta Tags as if they have some critical importance in getting good search engine results!

The truth is most if not all search engines plain old ignore key words in Meta Tags! I've seen report after report, from researchers who are paid to laboriously test for things like this, that conclude that key words in Meta Tags make zero difference in search engine results for most search engines. The two or three engines that might (maybe!) look at them, give them hardly any importance.

Since search engines don't care about key words in Meta Tags, why does anyone? Don't waste your time worrying about Meta Tags!

The next time you get solicited for a "Meta Tag Evaluation" - think again. These sorts of things are generally used as come-ons for the services the company or individual really wants to sell you. Whether it's $40 or free, getting your Meta Tags "analyzed" is a waste of time. I've never seen nor heard any reports of anyone ever reaping results based purely on a reformulation of their key words in a Meta Tag! It doesn't matter what order the words are in, how often they are or are not repeated, how many commas there are, and so on: Most of the time search engines don't even look!

So please don't get taken in by this pervasive and persistent myth. Yes, you should have a key word and description Meta Tag on your web site. Why not? It can't hurt. While they ignore key words in Meta Tags, some search engines might use the description Meta Tag. And it's extremely easy for your Webmaster to add these tags - so cost should not be a factor! You might as well have them.

But don't get caught thinking it's going to make any difference in how well you appear in search engines! Don't let anyone waste your time with Meta Tags!

Published: July 2, 2002

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Lawrence Schoeffler is Vice President of Dominion Homes Web Services and founder of NUMBER1EXPERT. Dominion Homes Web Services includes Advanced Access, Agent Advantage by Homes.com, and Best Image Marketing, and is a division of Dominion Enterprises. Advanced Access is the industry leader in agent websites. More agents invest in an Advanced Access website than any other. Agent Advantage is the official agent website service of Homes.com, one of the most popular real estate portals in America. NUMBER1EXPERT by Best Image offers America's Top Performing Web Sites, with traffic and leads unequalled in the industry, sold exclusively to Top Selling Agents. Email Lawrence at .