Metadata is one of the cornerstones of good SEO. Read on to find out more about what it is, why it’s important for SEO, and metadata best practises.
What is metadata?
Metadata is data that describes other data. On your website, the metadata of your webpages provides information to search engines and browsers on what each page is about. Whilst not visible on the page, metadata is found within a webpage’s HTML code.
Types of metadata
Meta title
Meta titles are the clickable headlines displayed in search engine results. Every meta title tells search engines precisely what that specific page on your website is about. Meta titles need to be concise and accurate in order to help your website rank for relevant search results.
Meta description
Meta descriptions are the text displayed below meta titles in search engine results. A meta description provides a bit more information about what the specific page on your website is about.
Whilst not a ranking factor for search, they are still a key component of good SEO. A clear, effective meta description will tell users that your page can help them with their search query, and encourage them to click through.
Meta robots tag
The meta robot tag tells search engines how they should crawl your website. It lets search engines know which parts of your website you want them to access, and which parts to avoid. Essentially, robot tags can be used to ensure search engines rank the pages you want to be found for, and ignore the pages you don’t. They play a very important part in any SEO strategy.
Open graph tag
Open graph tags are used to share messages on social media platforms. An open graph tag tells a social media site what type of information you want displayed when you share a link to your website. For example, the preview generated when you share a link from a website to social media is created using the open graph tag.
The first image below is the open graph HTML code that is put in a webpage. The second image is the preview an open graph tag generates for LinkedIn.
The open graph HTML code inserted in a webpage.
The preview an open graph tag generates for LinkedIn.
Canonical tag
A canonical tag is an HTML element that specifies which version of a webpage should be indexed by search engines. This helps prevent issues around duplicated content, which can negatively impact your website’s ranking in search.
Keyword tag
The keyword tag lists the primary keywords or phrases that you want a webpage to rank for. Whilst it is becoming slightly obsolete (many search engines ignore this tag), when used correctly a keyword tag can be useful for SEO in certain search engines.
Alt text
Alt text is a description of an image or other non-textual piece of content on a web page. It is essential for accessibility, providing visitors using screen readers with a verbal description of images. It also helps SEO, as search engines can understand what an image is even if it fails to load.
Why is metadata important for SEO?
The different types of metadata used throughout your website can directly impact your SEO in many ways. These are just some of the reasons why metadata is important for SEO.
Click-through rate
Meta titles and meta descriptions are often the first impression your business makes on prospective visitors when they see your website in search results. By ensuring your meta titles are rich with relevant keywords and backed up by clear, compelling meta descriptions, you can increase the likelihood of people clicking through to your website.
Website crawling and indexing
Using meta robot tags properly tells search engines which web pages you want them to display – and which you want them to ignore. This helps ensure your most important content is visible to search engines and makes you more discoverable for relevant search terms.
Header tags
The hierarchy structure of your content is dictated by header tags – H1, H2, H3, etc. This is important for SEO because it gives search engines context for each page of your website, indicating the most significant information on the page.
Metadata best practices
Here are a few metadata best practices to keep in mind:
- Include primary keywords in your meta titles and meta descriptions. Ensure they are descriptive and relevant to the content of the page they link to.
- Use a canonical tag to specify the preferred URL for your webpage. This will prevent duplicated content issues impacting your search rankings.
- Ensure your pages have the correct header tags (i.e. the main heading for your page should be given the H1 tag, etc.).
- Create descriptive alt text and include relevant keywords to ensure search engines can understand the content of images throughout your website.
- Correctly configure your robots.txt file. This vital part of technical SEO tells search engines which parts of your website they should crawl, and which to avoid.
