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 Don't Forget Meta Tags - May 1999
By Jim Norris

  When submitting your website to the major search engines, be sure to include in your pages effective meta tags. Of the 7 major search engines, 3 use meta tags to determine page ranking - Alta Vista, Hotbot and Infoseek

 When you use a search engine, such as Alta Vista, to find a list of web pages with a specific subject, some search engines look for a meta tag known as the meta keywords tag to find the pages. The search engine's robot looks for those words in the meta tags located in the HEAD portion of the web pages in its database. It then returns a list of web pages that used the same words in the meta keywords tag that you typed in for your search.

 When the search engine has returned a list of web pages containing the subject you were looking for, you will see a few sentences after each link describing each web page. These descriptions come from another meta tag known as the meta description tag. Most of the search engines that use meta tags to find pages look at both of these meta tags as well as the title of the page to determine which order to list the pages after the search is done.

  For the search engines that do not support the meta tags, such as Excite, their robot looks at the Title and the text in the opening paragraphs of your page. So it's important to incorporate your keywords in your title and in the text toward the top of your page.

 When choosing your keywords, try to think of what people who could benefit from your page might type into the search engine. There is no limit to how many keywords you can use. Just be sure they have something to do with your page. If you use keywords that have nothing to do with your page or if you use the same keyword over and over, many of the search engines will penalize you for this. It could result in not being indexed at all. Most search engines only allow about 25 words for your description. When writing your description be sure to include as many of your keywords as possible. But don't be repetitive. With some thought, you can write a short description of your site while including some of your keywords.

 You may also write the same description and enclose it in a comment tag and place it in the BODY portion of your page for those search engines that don't support meta tags.

 A few things to remember:

  • 1.Place your main keywords in your Title.
  • 2.Use both "Keywords" and "Description" Meta tags.
  • 3.Place your Description in a Comment tag also.
  • 4.Incorporate your keywords in the opening paragraphs.

    •  Do some searches in the search engines using keywords relevant to your site and look at the top-ranking pages' source to see the format and what keywords have worked for these sites.

    Resources 

    • Pro-Mark Corporation [Picture]has launched a new, redesigned website at www.promark-stix.com The sites features their product catalogue, sound files from endorsers, news, press releases and an educational section which features playing tips, practice suggestions and on-line lessons.
    • US Web TV gives artists worldwide the chance to have streaming videos appear on their web site at no charge. Check out their site at www.uswebtv.net You will need Windows Media Player to view the videos. To have your video included, contact US Web TV at or call (407) 668-9375.
    • Disk Makers has released Musician's Guide to the Web. The free 30 page guide written to help independent musicians get the most out of their promotional efforts on the Web. To obtain your free copy, call (800) 468-9353 or visit their website at www.discmakers.com/registry/webguide
    • If you operate a website, and are looking for ways to increase your traffic, visit the Internet Marketing Center at www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/6171
    • Dake Traphagen custom luthier has introduced his website at www.traphagen.com Included is information on his guitars, company history, testimonials, his philosophy and details on his repair and restoration services.
    • The Connection Computer Center has been completely renovated and now features a huge selection of software, hardware and accessories. Visit the store at www.maac.com/software
    • Music Books Plus has greatly expanded their catalogue and now features online over 3,000 books, videos and CD-ROMs on music, recording, audio, songwriting, MIDI, multimedia and the Internet. You can join the electronic newsletter or request a printed catalogue online at www.musicboooksplus.com
    • Norris-Whitney Communications operates The Music & Audio Connection (http://www.musicandaudio.com), the international online resource for music enthusiasts, musicians, music and audio professionals. Included are classified ads, products for sale, company showcases, discussion forums, associations, music education, music & audio resources, career information and file libraries. Updates to the site are available by e-mail or on The Pointcast Network Visit at musicandaudio.com. For more information, e-mail to Fax (905) 641-1648 or call (905) 641-3471.

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