Metadata

Meta data is basically information about information, so in the case of the web, it is information about the content of your web page. There are two main forms of meta data relating to web pages; the meta description and the meta keywords and both are important elements for you to consider.

Meta description

The meta description is the snippet of information that appears on a search engine results page such as Google. This is your opportunity to give the searcher a key bit of information that will hopefully encourage them to click on the link through to your page.

This is another opportunity to use your primary keywords in the description, working in one or two secondary keywords if you can. But above all appear natural. Think about the meta description as you would a Tweet on Twitter – you must be succinct in selling the content of the page but you must also be appealing to your audience.

Length

The meta description should be no more than 140 characters which allows for an average of 20-25 words. Again, primary keywords should be placed near the beginning of the meta description and reinforced with secondary keywords where possible.

The meta description is not a key factor in the ranking of your page, however it is one of the most important factors in getting people to click through on to your page. This is your selling window so for usability, the meta description is key. Any keywords that have been searched for that appear in your meta description will be emboldened, making your link stand out from the competition.

Meta keywords/phrases

Meta keywords or phrases relates to those words that you have identified as being the main words people will use to search for the information contained within your webpage. Although there is a general consensus that these do not hold much weight with search engine spiders any more, it is still important to include these meta keywords in T4 and also build the words in to your copy.

You can find out more about keywords and keyword research in the webmaster guidelines.