Meta keywords are a type of meta tag that used to be placed in the HTML code of a webpage to help search engines understand the content’s topics. They are essentially a list of words or phrases that describe the content of a page.
Here’s a simple breakdown:
- Purpose: They were intended to inform search engines like Google about the subjects the webpage covers, aiming to improve the page’s search engine rankings for those keywords.
- Current Relevance: Over time, search engines evolved and now rely on more sophisticated methods to understand and rank pages. Most notably, Google announced in 2009 that it no longer considers meta keywords for ranking purposes. This is primarily because these keywords were often abused by webmasters trying to manipulate search results.
- Modern SEO Focus: While meta keywords themselves are no longer a significant factor in SEO, the idea of using relevant keywords throughout your content, titles, and other meta tags (like the meta description) remains crucial. Instead of stuffing irrelevant keywords into meta tags, the focus is on providing quality content that naturally includes words and phrases your audience might search for.
In summary, meta keywords are a historical SEO element that have largely fallen out of use, but the concept of strategically using relevant keywords within your content continues to be essential in SEO practices.
