Meta Tags (again)

[ChrisHolgate]

Hey,

I know this has been discussed to death but look back through previous postings there doesn't seem to be a consensus on the exact Meta tags that an eCommerce site should include, specifically whether to remove the keyword tag or not since it is believed that Yahoo potentially still makes use of it.

Currently our homepage has the following Meta Tags:

<title>Buy Printer Cartridges | Ink and Toner Cartridge for Inkjet and Laser Printers</title>

Description" content="<a class="attribute-value">Visit Refresh Cartridges for great prices on ink cartridges, toner cartridges, ink, printers and accessories.</a>" />

Keywords" content="<a class="attribute-value">ink cartridges, cheap cartridges, inkjet cartridges, inkjet ink cartridges, ink cartridge, printer ink cartridges, laser cartridges, toner, laser printers</a>" />

Content-Type" content="<a class="attribute-value">text/html; charset=iso-8859-1</a>"/>

author" content="<a class="attribute-value">Ink Cartridges, Inkjet Cartridge, Printer Cartridge, Toner Cartridges Refresh Cartridges</a>" />

expires" content="<a class="attribute-value">0</a>" />

robots" content="<a class="attribute-value">noodp,index,follow</a>" />

Language" content="<a class="attribute-value">English</a>" />

Cache-Control" content="<a class="attribute-value">Public</a>" />

verify-v1" content="<a class="attribute-value">sJXqAAWP6ar/LTEOMyUgG6nqothxk62tJTid+ryBJxo=</a>" />

viewport" content="<a class="attribute-value">width=1024</a>" />

This is too messy but before I do something drastic that I'll possibly regret please can you confirm that, in your opinion, I am best to remove everything with the exception of this:

<title>Buy Printer Cartridges | Ink and Toner Cartridge for Inkjet and Laser Printers</title>

Description" content="<a class="attribute-value">Visit Refresh Cartridges for great prices on ink cartridges, toner cartridges, ink, printers and accessories.</a>" />

Content-Type" content="<a class="attribute-value">text/html; charset=iso-8859-1</a>"/>
viewport" content="<a class="attribute-value">width=1024</a>" />

I realise there is a verify-v1 tag in there but this can be done through a file on our server so while cleaning up that might as well go. Would there be an argument for keeping any of the other tags or are they all pretty much redundant now?

Many thanks!

Chris

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Hi Chris,

I always advise every client to remove the Meta Keywords. Although Google doesn't make any use of them, if they are over-used, they can easily be seen as a way to keyword-spam. If memory serves, the MOZ page score gives this a negative if found, or it used to.

At best, they will do nothing for you - at worst, they can cause you issues.

-Andy

[ChrisHolgate]

Cheers Andy, would you also remove all of these?

author" content="<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ink Cartridges, Inkjet Cartridge, Printer Cartridge, Toner Cartridges Refresh Cartridges</a>" />
expires" content="<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">0</a>" />
robots" content="<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">noodp,index,follow</a>" />
Language" content="<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">English</a>" />
Cache-Control" content="<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Public</a>" />
verify-v1" content="<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sJXqAAWP6ar/LTEOMyUgG6nqothxk62tJTid+ryBJxo=</a>" />

[Andy.Drinkwater]

They are all fine to leave in there Chris. If you wish to upload the file to the root of the server instead of having the verify in there, that is perfectly acceptable.

Edit-- I should probably change the Meta Author though. What you have there might be seen as a bit of a bad practice by Google.

-Andy

[ChrisHolgate]

Yeah, the author in particular looks as spammy as a well known Monty Python sketch.

Thanks for your help.

[AlanMosley]

Bing uses Keywords I would keep them,

But don't try to spam them, I think Bing said something like they only use them if they are relevant to your content, adding different spelling and mis-spelt keywords was a recommendation

[Vizergy]

Mr. Mosley, I remember that Duane said a few years ago that it was a 'signal' but if memory serves - wasn't it a spam signal not a ranking signal?

[AlanMosley]

I cant find the bit about spelling anymore, but I did find this
"Meta Keywords (fill them in if you like, keep it short and relevant, but not a big ranking factor)"

http://www.bing.com/blogs/site_blogs/b/webmaster/archive/2013/07/26/27-things-that-help-and-hurt-seo.aspx

[Vizergy]

Thank you very much!