CIS67 Foundations for Creating Web Pages Professor Al Fichera Rev. August 25, 2010—All HTML code brought to XHTML standards.

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 2 Defining Tags Meta tags are general data-holding HTML tags. First, they can enable you to add some automated effects to your Web site. Sounds that play automatically Pages that can reload automatically Second, they can make your site more "findable" to the search spiders.

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 3 Placing Tags A META tag should be placed inside the tags after the tags.

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 4 Using Tags Search engines such as AltaVista, HotBot, and Infoseek check Web pages to look for tags that use the NAME attribute. Here are two examples to place in the portion of your Web page.

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 5 The NAME Attribute You should use two values with the NAME attribute: DESCRIPTION Specify the text you want to accompany your URL when it comes up in search results. KEYWORDS Specify keywords the search engine should use to index the page

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 6 Description Content The current value of the CONTENT attribute in this example is the actual text used to describe the Web page. The “xxx” will describe the actual page in the site, e.g., "Professor Al describes the use of META tags on Web pages."

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 7 Keyword Content The current value of the CONTENT attribute in this example is the actual text used as keywords. The “xxx” in the keywords could be e.g., “meta tags, keywords, content, submit-it, addme”

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 8 Include Misspellings Too misspellings Keyword Don't forget misspellings. Words like 'restaurant' are frequently misspelled. If you are using a keyword that is frequently misspelled, include common misspellings in your Meta Tag Keyword content. Here's a link to the commonly misspelled words from rinkworks:

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Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 10 Content Syntax Don't use any COMMAS. Adding commas only lessens your chance of matching a specific search phrase. Additionally, since spiders will only read about 200 characters of text for Keywords, every comma you add takes up what might be valuable space.

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 11 More Content Syntax JavaScript Place your Keywords above any or all JavaScript. Spiders don't read JavaScript, but by serving the Keywords first we can give the spiders less to crawl to reach the goodies.

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 12 Content Syntax and Ideas geographic region Don't forget geographic region. For many web sites this can be the most defining word to create a phrase. Think location - LOCATION. Form unique phrases. Don't just list your keywords in any order.

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 13 Author Content content The current value of the content attribute in this example is the actual text used as author. The “xxx” in the keywords will be your name. “Professor Al Fichera”

Copyright Content Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 14 Use this meta tag to let other viewers and search engines know that your work is protected by copyrighted. August 26, 2010

Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 15 Meta Tag Rules to Watch Don't oversize your Meta Tags. Don't Repeat Tags. Both are examples of Word Stuffing. Watch for incorrect Syntax.

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 16 Word Stuffing Don't Do It Here is a nasty example that also includes a title to boot! Web Design by Biloxi Web Design More than likely all they'll accomplish is being penalized by the engines for keyword stuffing. Web design by Biloxi Web Design for all your Web Design needs. We offer quality Web Designs and Web Design service. We are Web Design Web specialists!

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 17 Using An Online Builder You can use an online service to help you build and understand the use of Meta tags at this link: There is a form to fill out and submit on this page. Give it a try and see for yourself.

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera

More Tag Tricks Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 19 Here's a popular Meta tag used when you would like a page to be refreshed with another page. This is the syntax: Note: index2.html equals the URL of the page you wish to load. " " Also Note: The use and placement of the double quotations marks " " and semicolon. August 26, 2010

Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 20 Not All Spiders Support YAHOOLYCOSNORTHERNLIGHTEXCITE Several of the leading search and directory companies YAHOO, LYCOS, NORTHERN LIGHT, and EXCITE do not fully support Meta tags.

Companies Supporting Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 21 Alta Vista, HotBot, InfoSeek Meta tags supported? Yes Spamming penalty? Yes Excite, WebCrawler Meta tags supported? Description tag only Spamming penalty? Yes August 26, 2010

Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 22 Getting Indexed by a Service Most search services provide a link that is usually called: Add Site or Add URL—that points to a form that you can fill out to request that your site be added to their index. Here are a few that do this: Yahoo!’s home page AltaVista Infoseek Excite Hotbot MetaCrawler

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 23 Getting Your SITE Listed Here’s a Web service you could use: This service automatically submits information about your site to a large number of search services. Not all search services accept URL submissions from Submit It!, so be aware.

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 24 Services to Promote Your Site

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 25 Services to Promote Your Site

August 26, 2010 Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 26 Doing It By Yourself The next few images come from going to several of the Search Engines and adding your Site information by clicking a Add Site or Add URL button.

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Introducing Tags by Al R. Fichera 28 Final Words on Site Recognition The best idea: use two tags on your Web page, one for the description and one for keywords. Make sure that the title of your page—the text enclosed in the tag pair—accurately describes your site. Many search engines index pages based on the title.