Facilitating Document Access with Meta Tags

Olivier Serrat
2010

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The Title
The use of keywords in title tags is a powerful placement of the page's most important search terms. The most important keywords should be placed at the beginning of the title tag. Lead with the most important words and phrases for a particular page. Move from the specific to the more general. Refrain from using any word more than twice in the title tag.

EXAMPLE: The title of a think-tank directoryADBI Pocket Guide to Asian Economic Think Tanks This title's "meta" was changed to "Asian Economic Think Tanks: ADBI Pocket Guide".

Meta Description

Good meta descriptions are written expressly so that search engines will rate the page highly for search strings that we want to associate with them. Meta descriptions appear in search engine results pages. Abide by the hallmarks of good meta descriptions.

Hallmarks of Good Meta Description

1. The title of the document is not repeated
Do not waste your meta tags. Search engines review title "tags" automatically.

2. Important words should make up the first 10-12 words

Search engines will place more weight on the first words when determining relevance. Important words should be moved to the beginning. The first words are "prime real estate".

3. More important words should come first

Even with the 12-word cut-off, search engines tend to ascribe more importance to words that appear earlier. Prioritize the words in your description.

4. Add geographical context

Websites compete with one another on the Internet. Users tend to search for content within specific geographical locations. Target users who wish to find content about a region. Put words in meta descriptions that provide geographical context.

Examples of Good Meta Description

BAD: This document is a discussion paper and is part of a cross-country study on corporate governance; it focuses on corporate governance in the Republic of Korea. REASON: The description places too many vague and unimportant words up front. Key words such as "corporate governance" and "Korea" are introduced after the 15th word.

GOOD: This is a paper on corporate governance in Korea, and is part of a regional study in corporate governance.
REASON: The important words occur within the first 15 words. BEST: Corporate governance study in Korea; part of an Asia-Pacific study of corporate governance. REASON: The first words are the most important and the geographical context is more precise.

Keywords
Keywords can make or break your website (or blog). Most of the traffic that websites receive come from search engines: keywords are the currency of search engines. Keywords can easily make the difference between a website that has no traffic and one that enjoys heavy traffic. Keywords function in the same way as meta descriptions. But there are a few important differences: Keywords are made up of separate phrases, separated by commas. Keywords do not need to be grammatically correct. Key words are tallied directly against the search words or strings that users type into search engines. Good keywords require that you put yourself in the "user's shoes".

Hallmarks of Good Keywords

1. Use the longest version of words Search engines are smart enough to find words such as "govern" within "governance" or "governing". To have the largest number of words that each keyword will encompass, always choose the longest version. Examples Use "asian" not "asia". Use "frameworks" not "framework". 2. Use all lower case Whether words are proper nouns or not, all keywords must be in lower case. Lower case keywords will be identified with strings that are capitalized. However, capitalized keywords may not necessarily be identified with search strings that are in lower case.

Hallmarks of Good Keywords

3. Use clusters of 3-4 words, with each cluster separated by comma Users today tend to type 3-4 words into search engines. List the most important keywords first. Do not use single words (e.g. china, poverty, finance, etc.) as they will not facilitate access to your document. Do not use more than 3 clusters/12 words. Example: Typing "china" into Google results in 614 million hits (December 2009). 4. Add geographical context Try to make the geographical indicator the first keyword.

Example of Good Keyword Selection

PUBLICATION: ADB Planning Road Network Expansion in Bhutan http://adb.org/media/Articles/2003/3742_Bhutan_Road_Network_Expansion/ BAD: This document offers no keywords. EXISTING KEYWORDS: Bhutan, Road Network Expansion, technical assistance, loan, transportation, Japan Special Fund, grant, agricultural markets, ADB Planning Road Network Expansion in Bhutan, news and events GOOD KEYWORDS: bhutanese highways projects, bhutanese roads developments infrastructures, bhutanese roads networks

Incorporating Keywords in PDF Files

Open the pdf file.

Click File> Document Properties > Description.

Incorporate the information in the fields.

Knowledge Management Center

Olivier Serrat
Principal Knowledge Management Specialist Knowledge Management Center Regional and Sustainable Development Department Asian Development Bank
knowledge@adb.org www.adb.org/knowledge-management www.facebook.com/adbknowledgesolutions www.scribd.com/knowledge_solutions www.twitter.com/adbknowledge