Page 3 - Optimal number of meta keywords

There you go with the dogmatics again. You are way off but I think for you this is more about you than it is about me.

Anyway, if it turns out I'm wrong then big deal, it's a forum where we come to exchange ideas and learn about a process involving many, many different elements. If you are just going to get on your soapbox and rant it ain't going to help anyone.

It is possible that a site ranks for a term only in the meta keywords but it is not because the keyword is in the meta keyword data, it will be becaue off lots of links pointing to that site with that keyword in.

Because the links that point to a site help describe what that site is about it is possible to get a site ranking for words it does not mention in its content.

In such sites that you mention, you will find that if you removed the keyword from the meta keyword data it would still rank exactly the same for that particular keyword because of the links pointing to it.

The fact that the keyword is in the meta keyword data and it ranks for that keyword is purely coincidence.

There is also a suggestion that putting keywords in the meta keyword data that don't appear on the page is spam. Since meta data is there to describe the page it doesn't make sense to have a keyword in the meta keyword data when it doesn't appear on the page.

And i have seen sites rank for keywords which were no where on their website! It was all from external sources.

Have you ever gone to a google cache and see "this page does not contain the keyword but is being referenced from another source" or something along those lines.

I guess you only need to review this thread... your opening post...

and then a couple of wise posts... and then you added "I'd say it helps"

a few more wise posts and then you added "I've seen sites rank for terms" and "good practice"...

and the thread keeps going and now



IF?



Some light reading

meta keyword "fathom" site:forums.seochat.com

Here's a July 30th, 2003, 05:25 AM post on this subject [that's 5 years ago]

If you add to pages -- keep:

meta keywords down to five words of information precisely on the page.

Even those your overall site topic might be t-shirts if the page itself is about sweatshirts the n T-shirt on the page in Meta Kyword is a waste.

e.g.

meta name="keywords" content="T-Shirt tshirts t shirt druck bedruck shirts"> would be good on a page about "t-shirts".

Please bear in mind that Meta Keyword is deprecated, or in plain language -- "useless".

To add to fathom's post, here's an article from 2001... 7 years ago: http://www.highrankings.com/metakeyword. The author does seem to be saying that you shouldn't completely ignore meta keywords, but if you'll scroll down the page, you'll see that it's been updated and the author has clearly advised not to bother with them anymore.

So go ahead, RoyalBlueStuey (and everyone on the same league), bicker over something that was settled ages ago.

Who's bickering? It would be self-important, attention-seeking wind-bags like you jumping in two-footed and argueing against an extrapolated point that ultimately no-one's actually made.

Feel free to read "How many keywords should you use" as "I can say without a shadow of a doubt Keywords are the most important thing in SEO and people should dedicate 100% of their efforts towards them", feign righteous indignation and then react accordingly using your precious time to tell everyone what a waste of precious time this tiny little job is.

Tip : People listen to a whisper more than a scream.

OK, if you'll explore my replies to other threads on this forum (which I'm sure you're much too full of yourself to do), you'd see that I haven't been the self-righteous, "indignation-feigning" windbag that you know me as.... until I read your posts. Why?

1. You opened the thread with a presumptuous question - and you were wrong. Check.
2. People offered you good advice but you kept rejecting all that in favor of your own misconceptions, and vehemently so. Check.
3. You received a total , and are now trying to salvage your bedraggled reputation by playing the "you're a meanie; I'm going to post completely irrelevant quotes along with every post I make, so someone takes pity on me for being the self-important newbie that I actually am." card. Check.


No seriously, I don't think you're a bad guy or anything. All I've been pissed about is your persistence that meta keywords are somehow not a waste of time. They are, and you have plenty of evidence for that right on this thread. If I've been wasting my "precious time," it's because I (after a brief chat with fathom a couple days ago) don't want people reading threads like this (how may meta keywords should I use?... like it matters) sometime down the road and leaving with the wrong guidance.

I'm not going to continue posting on this thread. You can go ahead and call me whatever you want. If you listen to good advice, you're going to make money. Else, nada.

And yeah, I totally rule.

So I'll take "Google doesn't bother with keywords" if you learn how to make a minor point without resorting to smug superciliousness....it'll be better the in the long run. I think ultimately you'll have got the more valuable lesson.

The problem though you didn't start a thread about Targeting Keywords you started a thread about Meta Keyword... and what is the optimal use..

Those two topics are "totally different issues"...

A newbie will be sure to think about you're implying:



With that statement in the context of your own thread suggests people should dedicate 100% of their time to Meta Keywords and you firmly believe that noting "I can say without a shadow of a doubt"

I can infer your jest but your incoherent discussions ultimately leads the inexperience down roads of misinformation... unless I or someone else corrects your dialog

Case in point:

Targeting keywords has absolutely nothing to do with Meta Keywords since Meta Keyword isn't used in any ordered ranking algorithm... a keyword added to a Meta Keyword will not have any impact on any search engine results.

That said, even whipsering your beliefs doesn't change the fact that they are still wrong.

meta keywords : useless!!! 100000000000000% useless.....

It is better to confess ignorance than provide it...oh...that is my new signature file too.

let's calm down just a bit here, it's not that big of a deal is it?? i mean it's not worth fighting over.