Debunking the myth behind the Meta Keywords tag

This week, we interviewed 10 candidates for an SEO position. When asked to list the “five locations on a page where employing a target keyword can have a positive effect on search engine rankings”, we were told multiple times by some interviewees that the Meta Keywords tag is one of them.

This common misconception is completely untrue. In reality, the Meta Keywords tag has been ignored by Google for years. While the rest of the search engines take notice of it, there has been little evidence to show that they have any effect at all on search engine rankings.

So, if you’re spending valuable time trying to optimise a page’s Meta Keywords, STOP! That time is much better spent thinking about better Title Tags for your page, creating SEO-friendly quality content that enriches the reader or writing effective Meta Descriptions to improve click through rates.

Wai Hong Fong is co-founder and chieftain at OZHut, a multi-niche online retailer that is passionate about truly serving people in the online space. In 2010, he was recognized as one of Australia’s Top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs by SmartCompany.

Wai Hong also blogs on his journey as an Entrepeneur, with specific interests in SEO, Online Retail and learning to build strong businesses that thrive and in turn help us grow healthy communities that cherish our families, lives and wellbeing.