Should I delete Meta Keywords from a website?

[Grant-Westfield]

Hi Guys,

I've been reading various posts on the Q&A section here at Moz about Meta keywords.

I understand that meta keywords are not relevant with Google and that Bing signals this as spam.

I'm optimising existing websites which already have meta keywords in the html coding.

My question is:

If I delete ALL meta keyword coding will this have any negative impact whatsoever?

Thanks Mozers

Jason

[KempRugeLawGroup]

Hi Jason,

This thread is from a couple of years ago, but it still holds true: http://moz.com/community/q/meta-keywords-should-we-use-them-or-nothttp://moz.com/community/q/meta-keywords-should-we-use-them-or-not

Before you do anything, wait for a second, third, and, maybe even, fourth opinion, but deleting all your meta keywords should not change your rankings in google at all...and it might even help your rankings in Bing...but it certainly won't hurt you.

• Ruben

[benjaminmarcinc]

I would keep them, i even still use them with sites I'm building now because even though one search engine says they don't use them maybe another will and who knows if and when they will be important again. In my opinion no harm no foul. I leave mine.

[maxweb]

When I'm doing keyword research, one of the first things I do is go on competitor websites and see if they have the meta keyword tag. If they do, then it instantly gives me access to all the keywords that they're targeting and allows me to work on beating them. Deleting your meta keyword tag prevents your competitors from doing this to you.

[KevinBudzynski]

No problem deleting them. Google and Yahoo does not use it as a ranking factor. Also, if stuffed could impact your rankings on Bing who uses as a spam signal.

[GPainter]

The short answer is no - it will have no negative impact.

[David-Kley]

I am in favor of keeping them. One rule we live for is "Not optimizing only for Google, yahoo or any one specific platform"

If the keywords are direct and well chosen, they will not hurt you. If not, its more than likely there are some other areas of your site that could use improvements as well. You never know how people will be getting to your site, or by what means they will get there. Removing something that is well structured, even if it's only used by a select few platforms is not a good idea IMHO.

If they are stuffed, then yes, it would be a good idea to revise them, but not completely remove them. Is the keywords tag the most important factor? No, not by any means. i would take a hard look at your description and page titles before I would suggest worrying about keywords.

A quote someone once told me about SEO "If my sink is leaking, I fix the leak. I don't throw away the whole sink, or go buy a new one, unless the old one cannot be repaired."

[DeanAndrews]

I also would suggest that you delete them as no search engine use them and as already suggested it gives your competitors a list of keywords that you are trying to optimise for.

Think content rather than a list of keywords

[evan89]

I agree with Mark on this one. As long as they are not stuffed, it may not be that big of a deal, but I don't include them.

[Grant-Westfield]

Thanks for your response Ruben.

There's a few differing opinions on this thread so I'll take your advice and balance my options. Unfortunately the link you kindly provided cannot be found

Thanks

Jason

[Grant-Westfield]

Thanks Benjamin,

There certainly seems to be harm in leaving them when considering Bing. I've noticed that our websites all ranks within the top 5 searches on Google but Bing and Yahoo we don't fair so well.

I am hesitant to delete them as you rightfully point out, they may be important in the future.

Cheers

Jason

[Grant-Westfield]

This post is deleted!

[Grant-Westfield]

Hi Mark,

I too analyse competitors websites in the same way, it helps me with SEO and copywriting.

This is one of the main reasons I want to delete them from our sites.

Thanks for your feedback.

Jason

[Grant-Westfield]

Thanks Evan

[Grant-Westfield]

Thanks for clarifying this Kevin.

Our websites ranks high (top 5) on Google but ranks around 30-40 on Yahoo and Bing so there does seem to be a direct correlation.

I think the very nature of meta keywords is stuffing, so I'm swaying on the side of deleting them altogether.

Thanks for your response.

Jason

[Grant-Westfield]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your reply. With your advice and the majority of responses to this post it seems like deleting them might be my best option.

If I delete them and it has a negative effect I'll keep you all informed!

Thanks

Jason

[Grant-Westfield]

Hi David,

So far I'm in favour of deleting them, but with your response I'm in a bit of a dilemma.

I agree with your premise that you should optimise for people and not search engines, also the point about not knowing how people reach your site.

The meta keywords is the last of my tasks as meta tags, title tags and other on page text has been fully optimised. However I am finding a direct correlation between meta keywords and search engine rankings. Our sites feature in the top 5 searches on Google but 30-40 on Yahoo and Bing. So after optimising all other areas of the websites, meta keywords seem to be the cause of this. So the sink is leaking somewhere.

I really appreciate your detailed response and will take some time ponder over my options.

Thanks

Jason

[Grant-Westfield]

Hi Dean,

Think content rather than keywords - spot on!

As I've only been in my job for 6 weeks, my fear is if I delete them it may have a negative impact on our search engine results.

So far deleting them is more likely than not.

I'll keep you informed of any impact this may have.

Thanks

Jason

[DeanAndrews]

Congratulations on your new position Jason.

Also nice to see that you have responded to everyone who made a comment.

[Grant-Westfield]

Thanks Dean,

I try to apply the same individual responses on Social Media. People take the time to respond individually and that warrants a personalised response.

All too often this is a failing of businesses on Social Media.

Jason