What Are Meta Tags?
Meta tags are HTML codes that provide additional details about a page’s content. They are specified using the <meta> tag and are placed in the page’s <head> tag. While meta tag codes can vary, the most common ones include the naam en inhoud attributes.
<meta name=" " content=" " />
Meta tags are included inside the page’s <head> tag. For example, the meta tag below indicates the page’s meta description.
<html> <head> <meta name="description" content="Dit is een SEO-metabeschrijving."/> </head> </html>
Importance of Meta Tags
The most common meta tags provide search engines with essential information about a page. Search engines then use this information to understand the page’s content and intent. This, in turn, determines how the search engine handles, ranks, and displays your content on its results pages.
Some meta tags are also used to perform non-SEO actions on the webpage. For instance, they can be used to refresh the page or redirect visitors to another page or site.
Third-party systems, such as social apps like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), also use some meta tags. These tags allow the apps to better understand the content and determine how they display it on their platforms.
Examples of Common Meta Tags
There are multiple meta tags out there. However, here are some common ones you will find on most sites.
1 Meta Title
De meta title specifies the title a blogger wants search engines to display on search results pages. It is also called the SEO title and is crucial for improving a page’s click through rate.
<title>10 Essential Yoga Poses for Beginners | Start Your Practice Today</title>
2 Meta omschrijving
De meta description provides a brief summary of a page’s content. It is also called the SEO description and appears on the search results page along with the meta title. Visitors often read the meta title and description when deciding whether to click on a result on the search results page.
<meta name="description" content="Discover 10 essential yoga poses perfect for beginners! Start your yoga journey with easy-to-follow poses that improve flexibility, strength, and relaxation. Perfect for anyone new to yoga">
3 Meta-trefwoorden
Meta keywords are used to indicate the trefwoorden relevant to a webpage. However, they are largely obsolete as most search engines have stopped supporting them due to abuse.
<meta name="keywords" content="yoga, yoga poses, yoga for beginners, yoga for newbies">
4 Meta-vernieuwing
De meta refresh tag automatically reloads the webpage after a specified period. For example, the meta refresh tag below instructs the browser to reload the page after 10 seconds.
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="10">
5 Meta-omleiding
De meta-omleiding or meta refresh redirect tag instructs the browser to reload and redirect visitors to a new URL after a specified period. For example, the meta tag below instructs the browser to send visitors to the new URL after 5 seconds.
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5;url=https://yourdomain.com/yoga-poses">
6 Robots-metatag
De robots meta tag specifies how search engine bots should crawl and index the page. Multiple meta tags use the robots attribute, so there isn’t one specific meta tag considered the ‘robots meta tag.’ For example, the robots meta tag below is a noindex tag.
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
7 Noindex Tag
De noindex tag tells search engines not to include the page in their inhoudsopgave, ensuring it does not appear on search results pages.
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
8 Nofollow Tag
De nofollow tag instructs search engines not to pass link gelijkheid of PageRank to the URL receiving the link. It is typically used for links the blogger does not trust or does not want to endorse.
<meta name="robots" content="nofollow">
9 Geen afbeeldingsindex
De no image index tag tells search engines not to index the images on a webpage. Bloggers use it to protect copyrighted or sensitive images from appearing on search results pages.
<meta name="robots" content="noimageindex">
10 No Snippet Meta Tag
De no snippet meta tag prevents search engines from displaying featured snippets, video previews, and meta descriptions from a page on search results pages.
<meta name="robots" content="nosnippet">
11 Open Graph-metatags
Open Graph meta tags are a group of meta tags that control how content appears on social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). They contain a eigendom attribute that is set to different values depending on the type of content being specified.
For example, the Open Graph meta tag below specifies the page’s title:
<meta property="og:title" content="A 10-Minute Morning Yoga Sequence for Beginners - Your Site">
The Open Graph meta tag below specifies the page’s description:
<meta property="og:description" content="Looking to start your yoga practice in the morning? Here is a simple and great morning yoga sequence for beginners to help get you started!">
The Open Graph meta tag below specifies the URL of the page’s featured image:
<meta property="og:image" content="https://yourdomain.com/first-yoga-pose.png">
The Open Graph meta tag below specifies the page’s URL:
<meta property="og:url" content="https://yourdomain.com/morning-yoga-for-beginners">
Meta Tag Best Practices
Meta tags can impact your SEO en user experience. By optimizing them effectively, you can improve your site’s visibility in search results and attract more clicks from visitors. In this section, we will explore some standard practices for getting the most out of your meta tags.
1 Use Unique Meta Tags for Your Pages
Some bloggers use the same meta tags for multiple pages. This is unhelpful to search engines and does not help your SEO. Instead, create unique meta tags for every page on your site. This ensures the metatags are relevant and search engines can better understand the page.
2 Avoid Stuffing Keywords Into Your Meta Tags
Overloading your meta tags with excessive keywords will make your content appear spammy. Search engines consider it a black hat SEO technique, and Google will demote or deindex pages that engage in it.
To prevent such a problem, focus on naturally including keywords in your meta tags. Make sure that the content and keywords that appear in your SEO meta tags also appear in the visible content on the page.
3 Avoid Using Outdated Meta Tags
Certain meta tags, such as the meta keyword tag, were once used to signal relevant keywords to search engines. However, they are now obsolete and ignored by major search engines. Ensure to avoid such meta tags as they can clutter your code and make your site appear outdated.
4 Test Your Meta Tags Before Publishing
Test your meta tags to ensure they work and display correctly on search results, social media, and other platforms. Tools like Google Search Console are helpful for analyzing SEO meta tags. Meanwhile, social media debuggers can review Open Graph meta tags.
5 Prioritize Meta Tags That Improve SEO and User Experience
Focus on optimizing your site using meta tags that directly impact SEO and user experience. Specifically, your meta titles, descriptions, and Open Graph tags directly affect your shareability and click through rates.
Make sure to optimize them for conversions. They should be clear, concise, and easy to read. For example, a meta description that’s too long may get cut off in search results, reducing its effectiveness.
6 Use Schema Structured Data With Meta Tags
Gebruik Schema-opmaak alongside meta tags to provide search engines with detailed information about your content. They increase your chances of appearing as rich snippets en featured snippets. This benefits your SEO efforts by giving you a prominent position on search result pages and increases the chances that visitors will click on your content.