[RESOLVED] META tag question...

[Static]

ok, I am creating the meta tags (Keywords specifically)

I know this is a way to describe whats in the page... but do the words in the keyword list have to be in the page text for crawlers to "find" & list it?

say I have Weddings, Bouquets, Flowers in the keywords.. would the page text have to have these? is there a way to have a bunch of text in the page but "hidden" or off the bottom??

Thanks!

[DeadEyes]

I once read "if meta tags were children they'd be in care after all the abuse they've suffered".
Their value is limited. One of the most important things for search engines is the title. try to put in the title words you think people will use for searching.
However remember people will try anything to get better rankings so huge lists of words (especially if hidden) will be penalised by engines. title and content are mainly what matter. Most search engines criteria for ranking are strictly gaurded secrets (to prevent abuse), so there is no sure fire way to get number one.

[Static]

ok.. that helps..
but do u know if search sites only scan the "text" or will they also read things like the alt="" in images or.... etc

like in the contact page.. in order to get the look correct I used images for the address & phone number (most people would not have the font I used)
so If I put the address (at least town, state) in the alt.. will that work or help?

[si_the_geek]

I've only ever looked into Google properly, and they actively frown upon meta keywords and hidden text.

Most of their ranking is done by the 'genuine' text (not hidden, or gibberish apparently), as well as alt text and other 'impared user' helper functionality.


If you want your page listed, go to the submission section of the search engine(s) you are interested in, and they will list your page.. it may take a few weeks tho.

[Static]

I was planning on doing that as well (Submitting) just wasnt sure if at least they checked alt's etc..

because a lot of the pages are graphically done with little or no text...
Thanks all! (I'll still put the keywords in tho.. just to be safe)

[si_the_geek]

They do, but you'll get a higher ranking if you use real (and valid) text, which is why pages here get ranked so highly. ;)

[penagate]

Keywords don't work, descriptions do ;)

<meta name="description" content="A really crap site" />
will get you the sentence "A really crap site" below your site name in Google.

[Behemoth]

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/accessibilityseo