Meta Data – what is it - does it help my website?
Metadata is something that most website designers generally do not spend time researching and the vast majority of website designers probably do not fully understand meta data.
People rely on search engines like Google to magically find web pages that contain information they want to read or find out more about. Well written metadata can help, let’s give an example;
<title>Meta Data – Page one Google ranking</title>
<meta content="en, English" />
The meta data example above shows us the page is called "Meta Data - Page one Google ranking" search engines and people that use search engines will find this this text from the title information when searching, it also shows the page is written in English, again this is useful to help narrow down the pages returned for your search.
People live in the "I want it now, on demand world", they scan text and speed read looking for anything that catches the reader's attention.
Did you know that people read 25% less online than they would normally in print, people are simply not that comfortable reading online as we are in print, so having good quality well presented meta data can catch the attention of viewers it's what helps make a great website.
There are people that think you write meta data for search engines, well people use search engines and it's real people that will decide what and how they use search engines which of course will affect the results search engines return, write your content for real people, of course you should consider how a search engine will pick up your content and data, but it’s people that will read it.
I am sure that people reading this will agree that writing meta data is probably not something that people enjoy, in fact it is fair to say that the vast majority of web designers and programmers will never raise the subject of meta data for fear or them being asked “can’t you just fill in the meta data for each page as you go?”
Remember this “most web designers don’t like providing content or meta data” if you want your website to perform, make sure that your web designers know about, understand and will update your meta data.
Metadata is more than just HTML meta tags.
What is Metadata?
Title
Date
Keywords
Description
There are many different types of meta data classifications, there are 15 listed under the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative “making it easier to find information”
Meta data can appear on the web page itself, in the HTML code and in micro format, there are many different ways to use it and different types.
There is real meta data that is useful and meta data old wives tales, here are some examples of meta data, which category do these three examples fit into?
<meta name="revisit-after" content="1 days" />
<meta name="Jedi-mind-trick" content="I will hypnotise Google so that this site
reaches the number one spot for ALL KEY WORDS"/>
<meta name="Lisa-Simpson" content="Can’t sue me for using Jedi Mind Trick Gag"/>
Mr State the Obvious – circa 2009
Can it be done automatically? Is there software to allow meta data to be added automatically, well yes and no, there is software that you can use to help you create your code, but you still need the data to be written by humans, but that’s a good thing right? Yes we think it is, as written by humans, searched for by humans, read by humans, see the pattern forming here people..... (if not, please refer to Jedi-Mind-Trick)......
The internet is growing every day, more users creating more content, creating more users creating more content, you get the picture, help them find your content and therefore your website with the use of good meta data.
It's all about speed and finding what you are searching for faster.
Example:-
34 million returned pages when searching for the term metadata, if you have your meta data well written and coded then you have a chance of being found and your site actually visited.
Metadata, it's right up there with why validate your website when you are looking for good SEO and want your website to be found.
If you would like a web designer to help you with your website please give the Cairns Web Design Team a call on 07 4057 4751
