Meta keywords were once an essential search engine optimization (SEO) tool, helping websites signal their main topics to search engines.
In the early days, these HTML tags allowed site owners to list keywords to improve rankings. As search engines advanced, meta keywords became obsolete.
Today, many wonder if they still hold any value or are just digital relics.
In this article, we’ll explore the rise and fall of meta keywords, their current role in SEO, and better alternatives to optimize your website effectively.
What you will learn
- What meta keywords are and how they work
- The difference between meta keywords and meta descriptions
- Whether meta keywords are still relevant for SEO today
- 5 alternative meta tags you should prioritize in your SEO content marketing strategy
- When meta keywords might still be useful
What are meta keywords?
Meta keywords are a type of meta tag included in a web page’s HTML code to inform search engines about its topic by listing relevant keywords in a comma-separated format within the head section.
Unlike actual keywords visible in your content, meta keywords are hidden from website users and only accessible by viewing the page’s source code.
The idea behind the keywords meta tag was simple: search engines would use these keywords to categorize and understand the content more efficiently, improving the relevance of the page in search results.
Amazon still uses meta keyword tags, which you can find in the web page’s source code:
However, meta keywords became obsolete in search engine rankings because of widespread misuse and algorithm advancements.
Today, search engines like Google analyze and understand the actual content of a web page instead of relying on meta keywords tags. They prioritize high-quality, relevant content and user experience over the presence of meta keywords.
What is the difference between meta keywords and meta descriptions?
Meta keywords list the page’s target terms for search engines, while meta descriptions provide a short summary of the page content shown in search results.
It’s easy to confuse meta keywords with meta descriptions because of their similar names, but they serve entirely different purposes:
- Meta keywords: A list of keywords added to a web page’s HTML code to indicate its content topics. They were primarily used by search engines in the past to rank pages. A meta keyword tag is written as <meta name=“keywords” content=“keyword 1, keyword 2, etc.”>
- Meta descriptions: Provide a brief summary of the page’s content and appear directly in search engine results, helping users decide whether to click. A meta description tag is written as <meta name=“description” content=“Learn the basics of SEO and how to optimize your website for search engines.”>
Meta descriptions are user-facing and influence click-through rates, unlike meta keywords, which most search engines ignore.
Are meta keywords relevant for SEO?
Meta keywords are no longer relevant for SEO.
Google officially stopped using them as a ranking factor in 2009 because of widespread abuse through keyword stuffing, where website owners overloaded tags with repetitive or irrelevant keywords.
Google’s former Head of the Webspam team, Matt Cutts, confirmed that Google “[doesn’t] use the keywords meta tags in [their] search rankings.”
Other search engines, like Bing and Baidu, have also deprioritized or outright ignored meta keyword tags in their ranking algorithms. This shift has made meta keywords an outdated practice.
Instead, modern SEO focuses on more effective strategies, such as optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, and content structure to improve search engine visibility and user engagement.
5 alternative tags important for SEO
Although meta keywords are outdated, other meta tags remain vital for communicating your page’s content to search engines. These tags help improve visibility, click-through rates, and overall SEO performance.
Here are the five essential tags you must prioritize:
1. Title tags
Title tags define a web page’s main title and serve as the clickable headline in search engine results.
They’re a key ranking factor, as they directly influence click-through rates and help search engines understand your page’s content and relevance.
For example, if you look at the source code for PetMD’s page “How to Potty Train a Puppy,” the title tag appears as: <title>How to Potty Train a Puppy | PetMD</title>.
To optimize a title tag, keep it concise—ideally under 60 characters—to prevent truncation in search results. Include your primary target keywords more naturally while maintaining clarity and appeal.
Surfer’s Content Editor helps you create optimized title tags that balance SEO requirements and user engagement. You will find it at the top of your article.
2. Header tags (H1, H2, H3, H4, etc.)
Header tags create a clear content hierarchy, improving readability for users and structure for search engines.
These tags help search engines understand the importance of each section, contributing to better SEO performance.
Here’s how to use header tags effectively:
- H1 tag: Reserve this for the page’s main title, clearly indicating its overall topic
- H2 tags: Use these for main subheadings to organize content into clear sections
- H3 and H4 tags: Use these for further subsections, naturally incorporating primary and secondary keywords
Mindful.org’s web page provides a great example of clear H-tags in its source code:
Organized header tags enhance SEO and improve user experience, making your content easier to navigate.
Your header tags must include relevant keywords. Inside the Content Editor, you can find suggested keywords to add to your headings.
3. Meta description
Meta descriptions improve click-through rates by providing a concise, engaging summary of your web page’s content in search results.
A well-crafted meta description attracts clicks and reinforces your page’s relevance to the search query.
Ensure meta descriptions are 150-160 characters long so they display completely in search results Include relevant keywords naturally, and use a compelling call-to-action (CTA) to drive engagement.
Wildland Trekking’s page on “How to Start Backpacking” has a well-optimized meta description in its source code and the search results:
Surfer's Content Editor can also help you create optimized meta descriptions that balance SEO needs with user-friendly language.
4. Image alt text
Image alt text is a brief description added to an image’s HTML code, improving its accessibility for visually impaired users and boosting its search rankings.
It also helps search engines understand the image content, improving SEO performance.
To optimize your alt text, describe the image accurately and incorporate relevant keywords naturally. However, avoid keyword stuffing, as it can harm your SEO efforts.
For example, an optimized alt tag for an image showcasing freshly pulled radishes in Almanac’s “Vegetable Gardening for Beginners” looks like this:
Well-crafted alt text enhances inclusivity and increases the chances of your blog post appearing in image-based search results, driving more traffic to your site.
5. Structured data (Schema markup)
Structured data is a standardized format that gives search engines extra details about a webpage, helping them understand its content more effectively.
By using schema markup, you can enable rich snippets, enhanced with search queries and search result features that display key details like reviews, prices, or event dates. These snippets can significantly improve visibility and click-through rates (CTR).
To make the most of structured data, use it to highlight important details relevant to your content.
Bose effectively uses the product markup schema on their Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 page. Here’s how the product schema appears in the source code and how it translates into rich results in the search engine results pages (SERPs):
Should you remove meta keywords?
Removing meta keywords is generally advisable for most websites. While keeping them on your site won’t directly harm your SEO, there are several reasons why their removal can be beneficial:
- Prevent competitor spying: Meta keywords are visible in your web page’s source code, allowing competitors to easily see and analyze your targeted keywords.
- Simplify your website’s code: Removing unnecessary meta tags reduces HTML clutter, making your website easier to manage and faster to render.
- Avoid internal inconsistencies: If meta keywords are inconsistently used, they can confuse teams or automated systems that rely on them.
Bulk removal is easy with CMS templates or themes, streamlining the process across your site. By focusing on modern SEO content marketing strategies, you’ll have a cleaner, more efficient website.
When meta keywords might be useful
While meta keywords no longer hold SEO value, they can still be used by some websites as part of an internal tagging system.
Using meta keywords for content organization helps streamline content management and ensures web pages are properly categorized.
They can also be a valuable tool to prevent keyword cannibalization by clarifying which keywords are targeted on specific pages. This reduces overlap and ensures each page has a distinct focus.
For businesses managing extensive websites, meta keywords can provide internal clarity and support better content strategy execution, even if they don’t impact search engine rankings.
Key takeaways
- Meta keywords are no longer relevant for SEO, as major search engines have stopped considering them for rankings since 2009.
- The decline of meta keywords tags is due to abuse through keyword stuffing, which led search engines to prioritize content quality and user engagement instead.
- To improve optimization, focus on other tags, such as title tags, header tags, meta descriptions, image alt text, and structured data.
- Remove meta keyword tags from your pages, as they add unnecessary clutter and provide little to no value in modern SEO.
- You can still use meta keywords for internal tagging systems and prevent keyword cannibalization on large websites.
Conclusion
While meta keywords were once a key part of SEO, they’ve become obsolete as search engines no longer use them for rankings.
Instead, prioritize alternative meta tags like title tags, header tags, meta descriptions, image alt text, and structured data to enhance visibility and user engagement.
Although meta keywords might still have internal uses, removing them can simplify your site’s code and help you focus on strategies that truly impact SEO success.
