How many keywords should you add into the keyword meta tag? Does it matter? At the moment were competing for 15 keywords which has about 24 words.

Thanks

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The importance of the meta tags has diminished in comparison to other factors. Exactly how relevant they are, I'm not sure. However, I'd suggest experimenting with it if you want to find out how to optimize that particular factor. It's a good way to learn.

I don't think anybody will be able to give you a very authoritive answer for this one. The general rule of thumb seems to be to not put keywords in there, unless you are actually making a serious effort at the keywords you've chosen. Also, don't be afraid to change keywords for every single page. I think alot of people use generic keywords that apply to their entire site, and that's often times a bad idea.

I would limit it to about 15. Too many keywords in meta tag seems to spam the SE.

Originally Posted by nm000

How many keywords should you add into the keyword meta tag?

None because

1. No major search engine uses this tag
2. Putting keywords in a meta tag doesn't really help to compete for rank
3. A competitor can easily see your meta tags, and you don't want to tip your hand for what keywords you're optimizing for

lol well said newbie, i was told the same on this very forum, so i dont even include them anymore !

Woc

Pretty much what John said. It's doubtful you would ever see any benefit from the meta keywords tag. The time spent deciding what to add to them could be better spent doing something else.

Main thing is on what search engine you are promoting your website...like if you are targeting only google and yahoo then there is no need to put meta keywords tag as they don't take it into consideration. But if you are focused on MSN then you have to put meta keywords tag in order to achieve good rankings...

But if you are focused on MSN then you have to put meta keywords tag in order to achieve good rankings

Do you have any evidence to back up this statement?

How many keywords should you add into the keyword meta tag?

As many as you want. If you think you have too many, you probably do, that means you need to divide your page into subpages making each one takes its own topic.

The large majority of search engines do not use Meta Tags as part of their ranking algorithm, however Google, will use a meta description tag if it is unable to discern a description for a webpage on its own using this description in its SERPs, not its algorithm. Though we should use Meta Tags because they do have some affect in some search engines and even though that effect is little.

I think as long as you don't spam the SE, its ok!

Originally Posted by VirtuosiMedia

The importance of the meta tags has diminished in comparison to other factors. Exactly how relevant they are, I'm not sure. However, I'd suggest experimenting with it if you want to find out how to optimize that particular factor. It's a good way to learn.

I beg to differ.Importance of meta tags diminished??How and why do you say that.If you don't adjust your meta tags accordingly you will fail to have your website indexed.On a safer note web-masters people opt for anything between 40-50 keywords is good.As it is there are no rules.

If you don't adjust your meta tags accordingly you will fail to have your website indexed

TOTAL Rubbish

marketraise man, not one thing you said in your post is true or even resembles anything close to truth. I suggest reading some of the post we have here about seo.

it doesn't matter how many, what you should take care of is how you put keywords for alt tags when it comes to images...

dont over stuffed but you can put many..

hows that?

I think the key is to not "code" your webpages with only search engines in mind. Use the elements for what they're supposed to be used for, and that will probably help you more than anything in the long run in regards to search engines.
*Write code that is standards compliant
*use alt tags to acurately describe images
*your meta tags should have an accurate description, and list keywords that are directly relevant to the page they're on
*Avoid flash where it isn't neccessary, it's bad for SEO and most users hate it... I know I do!
*Avoid Java applets (see above)
*Write articles/content that a user will find interesting, quit focusing on making them "keyword rich"

Originally Posted by marketraise man