I thought META KEYWORDS tag was dead?

[RobertFisher]

Well........ if you are ranking well, they are going to try to use what you are using. Again, they are lazy and they are certainly not smart so kudos to EGOL.

[RobertFisher]

I am going to start putting the wrong keywords in. So on a physician site for lipo, my keywords will be: Saw 2, barbequed ribs, Halloween 3, Dexter, cannibals, etc.

Can't wait to see that competitor rank now!

Thanks EGOL!

[AWCthreads]

Uh?

[EGOL]

barbequed ribs

OMG!   Oh, I am laughing so hard I will have to wash my glasses.

[RobertFisher]

Actually, I laughed my a__ off when I wrote it.

[SEOSHARK]

Funny thread!

how would you respond to this?

Customer "Q#1" why didn't you write keyword tags for my website.....? " give proper answer"

Q#2... If Google does not care about my keyword tags than why is it listed here "cache:domain. com" ?

[SEOSHARK]

UPDATE: wordpress all in one seo pro has the same thing keyword siggestion.......

[Ron_McCabe]

I put key words in as it cannot hurt.  If it gets a few more leads per year why not :).  As far as the previous string goes I think these comments are truly silly as there are many good tools to figure out the key words you are targeting without the meta key words. So if "why not" is a good enough justification then you should do it.

[CleverPhD]

The keyword meta tag is alive and well, they just call it the meta title nowadays

[vmialik]

one of the first things I look at to judge an SEO on is whether or not they have 50 keywords per page with meta tags.

--Yup that's one of the things I look at as well

[vmialik]

@Ron and others,

I am just looking for some evidence from those that use keywords to see if they help. Example maybe someone has found that some search new search engine, like duckduckgo, topsy, etc that uses meta keywords for example and they see keywords helping them get traffic from those places.  Otherwise why not is not a good enough reason for me, as its extra work to add keywords without benefit, plus it looks SEO 1.0 (think html tables, static pages) vs SEO 2.0 to me.

Thanks for adding bit of FUN to this thread BTW

[vmialik]

They don't call you clever for no reason

[SEOSHARK]

I have seen no drop in placement with my projects that have no kw tags on Google, Bing or yahoo.

[vmialik]

Thanks for your input Tom, that sounds right.  Now just curious, has anyone experienced a benefit?

[stevecounsell]

I read somewhere that BING use the keyword tag as a spamming signal. Anyone else see that?

EDIT: Read that here:

http://www.semrush.com/blog/tips/the-myths-behind-meta-keywords/

[KeriMorgret]

I'm working from home today and trying not to wake up my husband because I'm laughing so hard. Time to move downstairs before I read any more replies!

[Dr-Pete]

One warning - not to derail the discussion, which is amazing - I'm as sure as is reasonably possible that at least one major search engine used META keywords as a spam signal in the past, and I'd bet it's still corroborating evidence for Google. Probably goes without saying, but if you use it - use it well. Just because it's not a positive ranking factor doesn't mean it's not a negative ranking factor.

I agree that the competitor aspect never bothered me. Hopefully, you also use your keywords in your actual content. Otherwise, what's the point?

[RobertFisher]

Dr. Pete,

While I agree with what you have here, I am disappointed that you are unwilling to set up a single variable study of some type focusing on the aftereffects of putting the wrong keyword meta tags in to trap the lazy, unrepentant, claimers of SEOdom, etc.

I would love to see how many cosmetic surgery sites that do liposuction would end up ranked for Saw2 barbequed ribs! as a long tail keyword!!!

If anyone can do it, you can do it. We believe in you!

Best to you and the team!

[Dr-Pete]

That's the kind of study I don't do because I'm secretly afraid it might work and then I'd have to quit my job and just drink full-time.

[MiriamEllis]

Pete, you crack me up:)