Should I remove my keyword meta?

[underscorelive]

So it's safe to assume keywords are no longer used by SEs in the old fashioned sense to rank sites, but should be keep them as indicators of site content?

It's been suggested by some that they're detrimental for two reasons:

1. Your competitors can snoop the keywords you're targeting

but mainly...

2. Over-optimisation is the enemy these days!

Thanks for your input

[Mike.Goracke]

I would suggest removing them.

You are spot on with the fact that competitors can use them. Also, they add unnecessary html to your page.

In addition, most pages usually only target one, maybe two keywords, so having a list of keywords really would not be beneficial.

Mike

[SEOAndy]

quick answer: yes

[csfarnsworth]

Yes buddy remove it.Only Bing used it not for ranking purpose though but for penalizing sites.
No way I see any good professional is going to suggest it.

[AdamThompson]

I would say that it's a very minor issue, but given the choice I would probably remove them.

[simon_realbuzz]

The SEO Site tools extension in Chrome suggests that keywords tags, although not used by Google, are used by some other search engines "so it couldnt hurt" to include them. Not sure who is right but just thought I'd throw that into the discussion.

[underscorelive]

Interesting point Simon!

Often times, search engines which aren't Google are overlooked. Perhaps for good reasons, but certainly worth thinking about.

Thanks!