Web Design

Meta Tags and Professional Standards

Erik Crowell

8/1/12

Jeanne Hart

IT / 237

Introduction

The use of meta tags are very important in web development; they are used to enhance search engine optimization as well as promote your site’s accessibility. Though some search engines do not use them anymore, they are still vital to the performance of your page. It is also vital to follow professional standards in web development. Following these standards and using meta tags are two of the best ways to improve your site and make it all that it can be.

Meta tags are used for many different reasons. You can use them to name an author, describe keywords of your site, tell robots which pages to index and which not to, and many other uses. Search engine robots use the meta tags to learn what your site is about and index it accordingly. Google states that they no longer use these tags because they are not reliable. “Keyword Stuffing” has caused this. Keyword stuffing is when a web designer overloads the keywords in the meta tags and this is considered a form of spam. Google instead uses the title and content of the pages along with a complex algorithm to index pages according to Google’s standards. Even though Google does not really utilize the meta tag feature, they are still very useful and many search engines still utilize them to determine the content of a page.

It is also important, when designing a page, to make sure you follow the professional standards of web development. Times and technology change, and with that, changes the standards of web design. By following these standards, you can not only stay current with technology and ensure accessibility to your site, but by doing this you will most likely increase traffic to your site which is always a good thing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have described the importance of meta tags in the use of web design, as well as the importance of following professional standards in web design. As long as you follow...