Meta Tags, Keywords- huge volume, or concise?

Question

When setting up the keywords in the meta tags, should I be repetitive, and put in every possible keyword combination 20 times, or put in each keyword combination once? For search engine optimization.

Answer 1

Search engines haven't taken any notice of the keyword meta since 1999 http://www.seo-blog.com/keyword-meta-tag.php

Answer 2

There are keyword meta tags (more or less ignored by
search engines) and description meta tags (still used).
Write a few, carefully chosen, meta tags in your description
as if you expected them to be read by someone actually
doing a search. That means if you fill it full of keywords
a person is most likely not going to click on your link.

In short: meta description: use a few keywords per page,
meta keywords: same keywords (if you can be bothered)

Answer 3

Keyword tags help very little. Each page needs to have keywords related to the page only, not the whole site. You also can not repeat any one word more than 3 times.

Answer 4

Focus on the title tag; not the keywords tag. Make sure the keywords you need are in the title tag.

The key to getting top ranking is not the keywords, but design a site for the user, not for the search engines. Create great original content that users would love and other sites would want to link to -- and top rankings in the search engine will follow.

Content must be compelling, accessible and unique - this is a key ingredient in getting links. Make sure people can link to specific content.

Here are tips by Adam Lasnik, Google's search evangelist (yes, that's his actual title)

Make your pages easy to index. Think about the terms that visitors will use to search for your information and make sure your pages include those words. Provide a unique title tag and meta description tag for each page. Use descriptive anchor text when linking to other pages of your site (e.g., "Obtain the latest federal tax forms for 2006" instead of "Click here for 2006 federal tax forms")

Make your pages easy to find. Provide an HTML sitemap that contains links to pages deeper in the site. On your home page, include links to the major sections inside the site. If your site includes many pages, consider creating a browsable set of links that enables the visitor to choose a category, then see links within that category.

Make sure search engines can access the content. Ensure pages of your site can be reached without cookies, registration, session IDs, or forms. Verify that your site isn't blocked with a robots.txt file and that search engines don't receive errors when trying to access your pages. (You can check both of these things using Google's webmaster tools.)

Don't be an island. Responsibly interact with realted sites to garner natural links, and -- more importantly -- mindshare. Search engine conferences are a great opportunity to learn and network, but participation on forums and blogs can also be very productive.

Study the source. Regularly review search engines' often-updated official written advice (e.g., Webmaster Guidelines, blogs, etc.).

You can read more of Adam's tips at http://docs.google.com/Doc.aspx?id=a4bb8f9kppt_0drmp5z&access=firstgov

If you are going to read only one piece on search engine optimization, I suggest you read Brett Tabke of WebmasterWorld.com's "Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone: 26 steps to 15k a day." http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/2010.htm

WebmasterWorld.com http://www.webmasterworld.com has different sections that cover various aspects of search engine optimization, and each section is participated in by respected webmasters and even search engine employees (e.g. there's a GoogleGuy that responds to Google topics)

Other resources that can help you get top ranking in the search engines are:

Google Press Releases http://googlepress.blogspot.com/
Matt Cutts Blog (Adam's boss) http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ (Matt is a Google software engineer)
Digitalpoint Yahoo Forums http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6
SearchEngineWatch's MSN Forums http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8

As for tools to help you get top rankings in the search engine, here are some of the best in the field today

Total Optimizer Pro http://www.totaloptimizer.com/
Keyword density tool http://googlerankings.com/ultimate_seo_tool.php
Google Sitemaps (to help Google index your pages faster) https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/siteoverview?hl=en
SEO Book - lots of free great SEO tools http://tools.seobook.com/