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Page Title, Meta & Head Tags

The title tag and meta keyword & description tags you add to your site can help you with your search engine listing. Below is an explanation of what they are used for and how to create them for your website. Keep in mind that you'll want to use your targeted keywords when creating your tags. To learn more about keyword research and use, please read All About Keywords.

In this document, we've also included information about adding code to the <head></head> section, which may be useful for advanced users..

What are Meta Tags?

Meta Tags are part of your website HTML code and work behind the scenes to tell search engines what your website’s about.

Using them effectively can:

Increase Your Rank on Search Engines. To figure out your relevance for certain keywords, search engines review your page content and Meta tags. Placing keywords in your Meta tags works to increase your relevance for those keywords and helps place you higher in search engine results. High search engine results make it easier for people to find your website.

Increase Your Conversion Rate. Well-written Meta tags combined with the right keywords help deliver visitors that are really interested in your products or services, which can result in higher sales.

Although there are several types of Meta tags, the 3 most important ones are the Title, Description, and Keywords tags.

NOTE: Although the title tag isn't actually a Meta tag, we treat it as such.

What Meta Tags Look Like In Your Website’s Code

Go to any website and right click your mouse. Then click ‘View Source’.

A window will open up that contains the programming code for the page you’re looking at. You’ll find the Meta tags at the top of the window, between the <head> </head> tags.

Title Tag

Title tags allow you to give titles to your web pages which will show in two places.

At the top of the browser window when you're viewing the page.

On a Search Engine Results Page. Many search engines use your title tag as the clickable link under which your website is listed.

Since the title tag is often what people see on a search engine results page, make sure that your title tag is descriptive and explains what your site is about. This will help searchers to identify if your site is what they're looking for and will work to drive the right traffic your way.

TIP: Use your top keyword(s) in your title tag.

NOTE: If no title tag is entered, your title tag info is filled in with whatever page title you entered when you created the page.

Meta Description

Like the title, your page's description tags may be used in your search engine listing. Many search engines display the description below the title link.

Like title tags, a well-written description can show searchers that you are what they're looking for and persuade them to visit your website. When writing your description tags, try to keep under 200 characters, as most search engines won't display more than that.

TIP: Make sure to include your keywords in your description, without sacrificing how it reads.

NOTE: Not all search engines use the description tag on results pages. Some use your page content or combine page content with your description tag. There is no way to guarantee what search engines will display in their listings.

Meta Keywords

Unlike the Title and Description tags, you won't find the keywords in any visible place like the browser window or search engine results page. The advantage of the keywords tag is that it allows you to include all the keywords that you can't use in your page content, like extra words, spelling variations, and common misspellings.

For example, Dunkin' Donuts would include both "donut" and "doughnut" in their keyword list.

TIP: Place your most important keywords first in your keyword list.

Inserting Tags on Your Website

You have two ways to insert tags on your website.

Site-Wide Keywords & Description
Page-by-Page Title, Keyword, & Description (**Recommended**)

Site-Wide Keywords & Description

You can add site-wide keyword and description tags that will be applied to each of your website pages. Any individual page tags you add will override the site-wide tags.

To add site-wide tags:

From the Dashboard page, select the site you want to edit, then click the 'Marketing' tab.
Click 'Meta Tags'.
Enter your keywords, separated by commas (maximum 500 characters) and your description (recommended 200 characters, maximum 500 characters).
Click 'Save'.

Page-by-Page Title, Keyword, & Description

You can customize your tags specifically for the content on your pages, which will help you gain search engine recognition and rank, as well as drive traffic more precisely.

For example, if you sell pet food and you have one page dedicated to cat food and one to dog food, you would want to customize your page tags to represent the different products so that searchers looking for dog food would find and land on the page that answers their needs.

TIP: Make sure you optimized your page content for the keywords used in your title tags and listed first in your keyword tags. Use them in headings, links, and throughout the page text.

To customize a page's tags:

Go as you would to edit your page, then click 'Internet Marketing' on the left.
Under 'HTML Title Tag', enter in your title.
Under 'Keywords', enter your keyword list, with each keyword or keyword phrase separated by comma.
Under 'Description' enter your description.

Click 'Save'.

TIP: Make sure that the keywords your place in your title and description tags (and first in your keyword list) are also used at least 2 -3 times within that page's content as well. Try to use them in headings and links to place extra emphasis on their importance.

Head Access

Advanced users can enter code designed for the head area of the source code. To do this:

Go as you would to edit your page, then click 'Internet Marketing' on the left.
In the box under '<head> </head> tag', enter in your code and click 'Save'.

IMPORTANT: Do not enter your meta keywords or meta description code within the <head> tags, but use the designated boxes. If you leave the designated boxes empty but use the <head> area instead, you end up with something like this in the code:

<meta name=:"keywords" content="">
<meta name="description" content="">
<meta name="keywords" content="cars,import cars,car detailing,car parts,honda,toyota,ferrari">
<meta name='description' content="The best source for import car information including tips on car details"'>

Many search engines will only view the two blank meta codes.

Note About Search Engine Optimization

There are no magic tricks that will instantly place your website on the first search engine results page. Meta tags are just one part of the equation. With that in mind, if your text is keyword rich, your page structure allows the search engines to get to this text easily, and you've crafted your meta tags well, you have a great chance of getting the search engine positioning results that you are striving for.