Today i was having a look at my competitors keywords and description. Had a look at its meta tags and they weren't any. Saw 5-6 competitors site. So is it true that google has stopped giving importance to meta tags?
Google is not giving any importance to meta keyword tag. However, meta desc is still considered when it comes to search results..
The meta Description is useful, since it is the brief descriptive text that Google search often uses below the blue link in the search results. But it is not likely to influence the search results themselves.
I completely agree with @Jim4767 , Most people say Google wont consider meta tags, but other search engines consider like Bing. However the relevant primary keywords and Long-term keywords used in meta tags give additional boost to your page in Google's search engine result.
yeah meta desc tags are not useful anymore, @rogerbinny @Jim4767 @emilystephi, you all couldn't have been more right but however Google doesn't crawl meta desc tag, it is just useful for the CTR(click through rate) because user may find the desc of a webpage relevant and visit the webpage/ website but I still don't believe that meta tags influences rankings in Google. please correct me if I am going wrong
Correlation data from Search Metrics and Moz suggest otherwise Vijay. I think that when you make the worst meta description possible, your rank is likely to drop. Therefore it must still be considered a factor.
Hi Friends in my opinion Meta description is useful because when ever you change it your meta details so that point of new meta add in your webpage so how can you told about Google crawler so crawl your page so best platform is meta content so easily search engine crawling your website.
Excerpt from my basic website seo blog post: 4. Add Meta Tags To Your Website If you’ve read any SEO blogs in the past you might have the impression that Meta tags are useless, I’m going to tell you right now this is a LIE, although it is true that meta tags does not directly influence your SERP, it does have value in today’s SEO arsenal, if you have ever done a google search you know that they way it displays information is like this: Google in fact uses the meta tag “description” for its search result description, so use this opportunity to write an excellent description for your potential visitors, something that captures the users attention and makes them want to click on the link and read your content. The description tag is also often used by Social Networking and social bookmarking websites as the description for the website when users link to your content, this is a good opportune to capture more visitors to your website. You can add meta tags manually in the HTML of the website or if you use WordPress you can install a plugin called All In One SEO Pack, which will add some additional fields below your main text area in the “Add new post” section in your WordPress administration panel.
Google is slowly shifting to user determined parameters (user response) instead of previously webmaster driven parameters. Meta is not directly used for ranking. Since these tags are shown to users, thus it can have impact. Here's what I think Good Meta -> Positive User Response -> High Ranking Mad Meta -> Negative User Response -> Low Ranking
I am doing seo for a website who sell houses. His competitors are those big huge websites who are there in this construction business from 30 years. Google gave them high priority. They all reside in Canada. After the update, those companies removed their keywords and description. This is a clear indication that google doesn't give priority to meta description
it is true that Google is not giving any importance to meta keywords, but title and description are too much required and given prominence.
This whole conversation shifted from meta tags to meta description. Well, everybody knows that meta tags and descriptions aren't useful enough for "GOOGLE SEO" but don't forget other SEs and you must have remember the quote "NEVER PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN SAME BASKET". Show some respect to Yahoo and Bing as well. If Google is not considering the meta tags and description then I don't think that Google will penalize you for having them; given that, they are enough worthy to be considered. AND HENCE I THINK HAVING META TAGS AND DESCRIPTION WILL FINALLY BENEFIT THE SITE. If a visitor is coming on your site through search results (other than Google) then that visitor is equally important as he/she discovered you while searching a definite term (Keyword) over internet (obviously, through a search engine).
Google hasn't given meta tags weight for years but it is still good to fill them out, other SEs take them into the formula. Google probably won't be king forever.
Description meta tag doesn't help you rank higher in SERPs, it is just useful for click through rates. You should often change your met description tag to see which description performs better, Matt C himself said this. Hope this helps.
They might say that desecration tags do not have any value for SERP any-more but my experience is different. They defiantly have allot less power than they did in the past but for some keywords it definably has some effect. Meta Keywords on the other hand have been useless for some time now.
Same thing just another meta tag to google = no weight. Only for people to read. But they can be valuable because lots of people read/scan them before choosing what site to open. On business site I put phone numbers and business info so someone can call a _____ before they open any other sites.
Thanks for your example @Helge Sverre. I think that if meta tags have a major role how the website is displayed in the SERPs, it is crucial that they are filled well - not necessarily with keywords. I always look up the description in the search engine results before deciding to visit the site. So, it's a win win situation for the site owner either which way. Like @Vijay Devkar - SEO Genius said it surely can affect the CTR.