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Meta-Tags for SEO optimization
• Robots
• Description
• Keywords
• Title
• Verification
• Viewport
• Http-equiv
• Author и Copyright
Meta tags are HTML tags that provide additional information about a website page.
The main functions of the <meta> tag:
• transmit information to search engine robots;
• serve as instructions for browsers, various services and software;
• contain information about the authorship and source of the document.
Meta tags are universal or supported only by specific systems.
Meta tags for search engines
Robots Meta-tag
The meta tag tells search engine robots how to crawl and index the page.
You can set your own instructions for a specific bot. For example, replace robots with Googlebot for Google or YandexBot for Yandex.
Possible instructions:
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all – means that indexing and following links are allowed, similar to index, follow;
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noindex – prohibit indexing;
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index – indexing is allowed;
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nofollow – you cannot follow links;
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follow – you can follow links;
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noarchive – it is prohibited to show a link to the saved copy in the search results;
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noyaca – (for Yandex) do not use the description from the Yandex.Catalogue for the snippet;
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nosnippet – (on Google) you cannot use a fragment of text for a snippet and show a video;
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noimageindex – (in Google) prohibiting the page from being indicated as the source of the image;
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unavailable_after:[date] – (in Google) after the specified date the page will stop crawling and indexing;
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none – prohibition of indexing and following links, similar to noindex, nofollow.
Description Meta-tag
The name=“description” meta tag can be used by search engines when generating a snippet, so it should:
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accurately describe the contents of the page;
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make you want to click;
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include a promoted keyword.
Different search engines display 160–240 characters.
The description for each promoted page must be unique.
Keywords Meta-tag
The meta tag name=“keywords” was previously used by search engines for ranking purposes, but due to numerous manipulations, its importance was constantly decreasing. Now most search engines ignore it. Google does not support it at all, but Yandex writes that it can take it into account. But in practice, keywords have not had an impact for a long time, and filling them out incorrectly can lead to overspam.
There are three approaches:
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leave blank;
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write specific phrases or individual words separated by commas;
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indicate, separated by a space, an incoherent set of words from which key phrases can be composed.
If you decide to include keywords, it is important to avoid spam.
Keywords must characterize a specific page and be mentioned in the content.
Title Meta-Tag
Title is not technically a meta tag, but it is often classified as one because it contains information that is used by search engines and browsers.
This HTML tag is important for SEO: it affects the ranking and click-through rate of the snippet.
Classic recommendations for filling out a meta tag:
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use the main promoted keyword on the page;
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place the key at the beginning;
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ensure uniqueness within the site;
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make it attractive to the user;
choose a length so that the title is not cut off in the snippet.
Recommended length is 70–80 characters.
Other Meta Tags
Verification
To confirm ownership of the site and the ability to manage it in Yandex Webmaster or Google Search Console, you can use special verification meta tags google-site-verification and yandex-verification (or another method).
Viewport Meta-Tag
The meta tag is needed to adapt to mobile devices; it controls the scale of the visible viewing area in the browser. Without it, the display is incorrect.
Http-equiv Meta-Tag
Accepted values:
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Content-Type – helps determine the encoding and document type;
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Refresh – redirect to another page after a residence time specified in seconds;
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Content-Language – indication of the main language of the document.
The tag tells the browser what data to use to process the content of the document.
Author and Copyright Meta-Tag
Function – identification of the author. If the site belongs to a company, Copyright is used; if it belongs to a specific person, Author is used.
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