Are META KEYWORDS used or ignored by Google for SEO?
Question: Is it true that meta keywords are not used that much for SEO by Google?
Answer: The answer is that META TAGS matter for SEO in this way. First, the TITLE tag is a META TAG and is the MOST POWERFUL tag on any page, and the HOME PAGE TITLE TAG is the most powerful tag on any website. The META DESCRIPTION tag strongly influences the summary that Google will display on a search.
What confuses people is that, for SEO, the META KEYWORDS tag is IGNORED. It has NO IMPACT on SEO. What matters are the two META Tags listed above, plus the visible text on the page vs. tags like H1 / A HREF / ALT TXT for images as well as the rest of the on- and off-page SEO for a website.
So, sorry for the confusion, the big takeaway: META KEYWORDS tag is IGNORED. The other tags matter in a big, big way!
About Jason
Got a question? Click this link to or call . is founder and Senior SEO / Social Media Director of the . He teaches the SEO training classes for the group, and therefore provides most of the SEO tips for this blog. His goal with this blog is to provide an easy 'one-stop shop' for the busy marketer looking for tips, tricks, and secrets on how to get to the top of Google and Bing for free using proven SEO tactics. When not dreaming up SEO tips, Dr. McDonald lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, two dogs, a cat, four iguanas and twelve children (just kidding). Really you read down to the bio on this guy? Enjoy the blog.
