Is the Keyword Meta Tag dead?

Actually, how much value do the Meta Tags still hold in general? It still depends on who you are talking to, there are a few who refuse to let go and that includes some of the older search engines themselves.

Leading SEO companies have realized that the search engine wars as moved back to the code. There are just so many ways to use a keyword and everyone is trying to use the same keywords. So now the search engines look at the page code and that can help boost your rating more than Meta Tags but that is for another article.

For those who don’t know, the meta keyword tag is a way to insert text into an HTML page that is not visible when the page is viewed through a browser. Some search engines read the content of the tag and associate the words in the tag with words within the page's regular body copy. The first major crawler-based search engines to use the meta keywords tag were Infoseek and AltaVista which began supporting tags in early 1996. By mid-1997, four out of the seven major crawlers at the time supported Meta Tags. Since, experience with the keyword tag has showed it to be a spam magnet. Some web site owners insert misleading words about their pages or use excessive repetition of words in hopes of tricking the crawlers about relevancy. For this reason, Lycos quietly dropped its support of the tag in 1998, and newer search engines such as Google and FAST never added full support at all. Pretty much by 2000, the meta keywords tag was left with only two major supporters: AltaVista and Inktomi. Now Inktomi remains the only one, with AltaVista having dropped its support in July.

MSN and Yahoo place some importance (very little-but some) on Meta Tags. Google doesn’t use Meta Tags for anything besides your listing (if there is very little content on page). You won’t be penalized by Google for having a keyword tag providing you don't include words or phrase that are not present within the visible on page text. Google will ding you for this.

Indeed, my advice about the meta keywords tag is simple. For those running large web sites or short on time, don't worry about it. The stress and time involved in trying to craft a tag is not worth it, in terms of the minor benefit it might bring. It is far more important for site owners to instead concentrate on creating good title tags for their pages, a key page element that has consistently shown it can help with ranking across all major search engines.

I’m not going to lose sleep over the decline of the meta keywords tag. It has always been a point of confusion. How many times can I repeat a word on the page without getting banned? How many words are too many? If I don't list a term in the tag, does that mean my page won't show up? Those are common questions consistently raised over the years and represent time wasted worrying about a page element that a minority of search engines supported, and for those that did support it gave very little if any ranking boost.

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Author Chris Kaminski is head web designer at Lone Bird Studio, an Asheville web design and Asheville SEO company located in North Carolina.

Importance of Web Design and SEO Combined

I’ve seen it many times now, a great idea, an outstanding web site and wham, nothing. Why? Because they broke one or both of the 2 golden rules for a successful web site. And the illusion put up a web site and you will make a million dollars. Nothing is more false.

GOLDEN RULE ONE. Just like a traditional store you have to market and bring in traffic. To put up a site and wait to be found is suicide. This is a solid truth whether the shop is along side a real highway or the Internet super highway. Know your market, know your competition. Seek out a web designer who has marketing experience and works closely with an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) specialist. Not one of these “organic” people but a true specialist. They will provide the info and experience you will need to develop a good web marketing plan. Do this first!

GOLDEN RULE TWO. Ok, this is the second big mistake. It is also the most costly to fix or is in the end, fatal. Choosing a web designer. This rule is so important to success that I’m going to cap it: CHOOSE A WEB DESIGN, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION TEAM! We are all tempted to save money but this is truly a “penny wise pound foolish” situation. If you go to anything less, if you go to ‘someone who does it on the side’ or a “graphic designer” who will do a site, or any number of “dream weaver developers “(as we call them) your idea failed the moment you handed over your deposit.

There is so much more to a professional and competitive site than a cute design and a few key words. So much has to be done both on and off page and during the launch that you want a company that has more than graphic design abilities. You need a company with combined marketing skills and proven e-commerce experience. Site development and SEO will probably be one of the largest upfront expenses in the project. But it will be money spent wisely and in the end, much less expensive then doing it over again. Your company image, web site, marketing all have to blend and work together, see rule one!

They chose poorly

The Yellow Dinosaur

Traveling down the road a few weeks back I noticed the now familiar line of yellow bags lining the road. Later that day I caught 3 random remarks in different places. All were negative. All along the lines of litter, useless, and saving trees hence this article.
You have to ask yourself, in this communication age, an age of Google and cell phones do we really need the yellow page phone books? This only leads to the next logical question, in this time of global warming and green awareness, do they not get it or do they not care? Since all the major publishers are moving hard to build their web programs you can only assume they don’t care. That, and they do not understand market delineation, there are just too many of them for any one to be of value.
For example, at our office we get 8. We are in a small county, less then 200k and we get 8 phone books, 2 from Yellow Book, 2 from Verizon, 3 from Bellsouth and now a new one littering the road, PDC. Guys, how many do we need?
Now don’t get me totally wrong, I still believe we need hard copies of phone lists but as an advertising vehicle, their main reason for being, yellow books have outlived their time.
The environmental damage goes beyond the trees. It includes everything from first cutting, the chemicals used in processing and printing and the staggering amount of petroleum products used in production and transport. Who pays this bill, we do. Who pays the clean up bill for the books rotting along side the road and in landfills, we do.
The phone book as we have known it has become obsolete. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s just technical evolution. What is sad is their failure to adapt. Some call it revolution but either way, evolution or revolution there is only one survivor.

Pick a web designer

In today’s world a business without a properly designed website is at a huge disadvantage. And just not any site will do, but one created with usability and SEO in mind. To work well a site needs to be designed properly, logically and cleanly. If it’s not then all your online marketing / PR / advertising and social media promotions to sell the site will just be wasted.
So much depends on the site design it is important to choose the right designer. So, here are a few tips to help you make the right choice.
1) Check out some of the other sites the designer has created. All creative designers have a unique style to them and certain elements common to .coms they develop.
2) Talk with the designer, tell him/her what your needs are. A good designer will be completely honest with you and be happy to tell you exactly his/her capabilities. The sign of a great designer is one that will ask what your current .com is, talk to you about your company and its goals and really get to know you. This is above and beyond, and what separates the good from the great.
3) Don’t separate the design and coding of your .com. You want one person or company conceptualizing, designing and implementing your .com. Splitting this is never a good idea and you will never get as good a product as you will if everything is done with one person.
4) Do separate the web design and the external marketing. Everybody can’t do everything. You want a designer who works closely with an SEO specialist. A proper web design starts with SEO and design from the very beginning.
Having the proper design is just the first step. It also takes a solid commitment to get your site a decent amount of steady traffic. And remember, once you start, it is an ongoing process from both your designer and SEO team for a time after the site is launched to build and maintain results.
When the website is created properly from step one, it will be something that you can build upon. You will have a valuable piece of virtual real estate.

Asheville Web Design studio combines design and seo techniques

With the economy in a recession, business trends have moved online. Companies large and small are making the move to survive. What they are finding is competition for front page exposure in the top search engines is stiff. Increasingly , they are seeking out web design and SEO companies that demonstrate the experience and track record of proven success. Due to higher gas prices and increased internet security, shoppers are buying online.

According to the Census Bureau, revenues from online sales have grown by nearly fivefold from $7.4 billion in the third quarter of 2000 to $34.7 billion in the third quarter of 2007. In July 2008 alone, there were almost 12 Billion U.S. searches conducted on the top search engines, according to Search Engine Watch. With decreasing local sales due to the economy, many small business owners are investing in online virtual real estate by creating a website to expand their reach and market.

Internet competition for top page exposure in the large search engines has increased dramatically due to the influx of the number of new websites coming online. Many small companies are going online without a clear niche marketing target and plan of action for online business growth.

Lone Bird Studio has developed a method that involves a unique blend of combining the design phase closely with the (SEO) search engine optimization of the web pages. The SEO promotion is as important as the design. Working the two together provides the client with a highly targeted and cohesive website. That has proven better than using unrelated web design and seo companies.

Today’s web design techniques have evolved with the internet and the demands for search engine friendly technical web coding. This combination of marketing and web design are a natural reaction to changing market conditions. Top selling websites seek out teams of web designers and seo specialists who combine their ideas to create a successful and marketable website.

This method has also proven to be a more cost effective approach, especally for startup and small business. A well designed and coded website with researched and correct SEO optimization combined with a continuing off-page SEO promotion provides the client with a piece of online real estate that increases in value. An investment in your online presence, or virtual real estate, is becoming as valuable as hard real estate, and can be acquired for a whole lot less money. It's just a wise investment.

Chris Kaminski is the head designer and web developer at Lone Bird Studio Ltd., an Asheville web design and SEO company in North Carolina. Clients include top companies in North Carolina health insurance, medical, news media, and government. Lone Bird Studio also specializes in creating niche market websites for that realize the necessity of ecommerce as the new marketplace.

What is in a .name?

The Internet has grown no argument there. It has replaced ground mail and the phone book. It has revolutionized business and banking but, there is one little piece that has gone un-noticed until now. In fact it has become the fastest growing segment in the private sector (a little corporate talk) and that is personal web sites.
And, that is because of the .name web extension. We are all familiar with .com, .net, .biz, .tv, but the real sleeper has been .name.
Why a personal web site?
- It's memorable. Use your first, middle, last or nickname in any order. The only thing anyone needs to remember is your name.
- You can have your own personal email.
- It is a global top level domain, .name works for individuals in exactly the same way .com works for businesses.
- It is personal. Use it to show off your family photos, or as an online portfolio, your .name domain is the best way to express yourself online.
- It's non-commercial. No companies no third parties in your domain. It's your name ending in .name, and that's it!
One of the great things about the Internet is freedom of expression, the opportunity for anyone to publish something on your own. It can be about your favorite sports team or music celebrity, personal or family news, political views, anything. There are a huge number and variety of individuals' web pages already online, including some very professional family and personal websites intended to keep relatives and friends up-to-date.
It is relatively simple to produce and publish your own pages, it can be great fun, and you also can learn some IT skills. Software for web page creation is easily available on the web, with many free or low costs. There are many websites that give advice and tips for budding designers. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer space to "host" personal web pages as part of their offers, and there are websites that offer free space for personal pages.
So, what’s in a name? A whole lot and you can take it global.