Managed SEO and Internet Marketing

RIP Meta Tags
2005
A fond farewell
to a dear friend
(of Black Hat SEO)[I had better quickly say that Title Tags are incredibly important to search engines and therefore absolutely vital to SEO. But technically Title Tags are not Meta Tags so I will continue....]

In SEO terms, Meta Tags have been dead for sometime. Google hasn’t taken in to account Meta tags, when rating a web page’s importance, since 2005.

So is there any point in even bothering with them then?

Yes, definitely. Meta Tags can provide relevant information regarding a web page and it is simply good practise and housekeeping to ensure your Meta tags are correct.

One key Meta Tag that should not be ignored is the Meta Description Tag.

Although Google doesn’t rate your Meta description text when compiling the importance of a web page, they will take the first 25 words (approx.) of the description and display them in your listing on a search results page. If you haven’t bothered filling in the description, Google will then go to DMOZ, and take your description from there. Not listed on DMOZ… ok then… Google will simply take a bit of random text from your website.

Therefore, your listing may then read something like….

Welcome to ABC Widgets Ltd
ABC Widgets · Home | About Us | Services | Contact | Help | Sitemap · << Back. ABC Widgets…
abcwidgets.co.uk/about.html - 17k -

Well, that certainly is enlightening to all potential visitors! I can’t really see anyone beating a path to ABC Widgets door anytime soon.

You can therefore see that the Meta description is an important way of getting information about your company across to people.

However, you should also be able to see how the Meta description could actually be put to work for you as a promotional tool - not with Google but with potential customers. Use words and phrases that a visitor will use to search for a business like yours and write text that will simply shout for people to click on your listing rather than someone else’s.

Your description could include any current promotions you may be running, discounts provided, specialised services you offer, etc. Why not put in your contact telephone number? And a call for action - ‘call us today for all your widget needs’? But remember to make it relevant and current, you don’t want to disappoint your visitors when they arrive at your website - your bounce rate my go up rather sharply!

Take note of other companies’ descriptions when you are searching the net for information, this will give you a good idea of how others are utilising this resource to promote their online business. Then go and search your own keywords and see what your competitors are up to! I suspect you may then want to take a bit more notice of your own Meta description…

I am a great believer of Emotional Intelligence as a concept. I feel, after some exposure and basic training based on Daniel Goleman’s book, “Emotional Intelligence” published in 1995, that this is a revolutionary way of thinking and communicating. Very briefly, the concept is communication between people at a deeper emotional level.

“Emotional Intelligence (EI), often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), describes an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups. It is a relatively new area of psychological research. The definition of EI is constantly changing”. (Wikepedia)

As a professional SEO I always wondered if there can be a link between a website and a websites’ visitor on the said level of emotional intelligence. This is something I have been discussing with an expert on the subject, Sarah Cartwright, an Effective Communication Consultant and a Facilitator . Sarah and I have briefly explored various avenues of approaching this concept and we both feel that there is a possibility of communication using some of the principles of emotional intelligence on SEO.

Our clients would have a great benefit from the Emotional Intelligence implemented in their website as we will try to get engaged with the visitors to the sites at an emotional level. We would try to understand them and help them choose the product or service they want in a very cost effective way. A website should be able to a communicate with all visitors at all levels. A website should give the visitor a better and more enjoyable experience and hopefully that will make them a returning client. From our point of view as SEO experts, we are always looking for a better, more effective, newer way to communicate with a website visitor.

We would like to investigate the possibility of tapping into visitors’ feelings.

Emotional Intelligence is a subject I have only recently come across and I would like to investigate it possibilities further. There is a lot to learn and research. so watch this space…

You are online, you are surfing the world wide web looking for a good SEO company to boost your online business presence - and there are hundreds of SEO companies all shouting to get your attention.

Company ABC SEO Ltd is offering:

Guaranteed Low Costs!
Guaranteed Quick Results!
Guaranteed Number One in Google or your money back!

Wow, sounds brilliant!

Company XYZ SEO Ltd is offering:

- In-depth analysis of online business
- No quick fixes
- Realistic prices
- Ethical practice
- Long term investment
- Solid organic growth

Oh.. doesn’t sound quite as exciting or sexy.  Get me ABC SEO Ltd on the phone immediately!

Put that phone down. NOW.

Should your decision to go with an SEO company be based upon the long list of things they guarantee they can do for you

or….

Should you decide not to go with an SEO company based upon the long list of things they guarantee they can do for you.

Does this make sense? Yes, because one thing that an SEO can’t give are guarantees.  Nothing is guaranteed in life (apart from death and taxes as the saying goes) and there are no guarantees in the world of Search Engine Optimisation either.  The search engines are continually changing their algorithms and they don’t want you to know what, when or why.

So where does that leave you?  You have an online business and you want it optimised. I am not suggesting you go with XYZ SEO Ltd - they are not very good at marketing themselves after all - but do think carefully and do your research. Simply surfing the net for SEO Selection Tips will throw up some great advice. Don’t just take it from us.