There always seems to be a long checklist when it comes to creating your businesses website. From adding content, visual graphics, and using important keywords on your site, the list goes on and on for what you need to add. Along with what needs to included, SEO plays a major role in creating further context for your content. Functions such as meta tags and alt tags give your website a way to advance your content and media (including images and videos) further.
Tags are used to build on-page SEO through your website. Your websites tags and descriptions should include relevant keywords to line up with the content on your website. Meta and alt tags present a direct course for your website to tell search engines, such as Google, how to manage your website content and showcase the value it brings. Along with search engines analyzing your titles and descriptions, it’s important to remember that people are searching for the topics, products, and services that your website provides.
Optimizing meta and alt tags require current knowledge of SEO timelines and practices. Both types of tags fill different roles to utilize their functionality. But how are meta tags and alt tags different?
Meta Tags
Meta tags perform an essential role in helping search engines, such as Google, index your site. They act as an invisible tag that provides data about your page to search engines and website visitors. This makes it easier for search engines to determine if your content or website is credible for its users or vital for SEO. Meta tags also help improve your website’s performance in search results. If you want to use meta tags effectively, you must optimize them to help search engines index your pages better.
There are a variety of different types of meta tags that all fulfill different roles. Different types of meta tags can relate to page structure by securing your site as easy to use and navigate on. Other types of meta tags can inform which parts of your site are vital and which ones to ignore. With all of the different types of meta tags out there, not all of them are relevant to SEO.
Meta tags can break down into several useful types:
Title Tag
The title tag is one of the first features people see and notice. The title of your page offers a glimpse into what your content describes. Your title tag should be clear, descriptive, and give users a reason to click on and view your content. A normal title tag is no more than 55 characters. Adding a keyword into those 55 characters could help your SEO and add value to your website’s content.
Meta Description
Meta descriptions can be of equal value to the title tag. If your title tag is the title that shows at the top of a search result, the meta description is the description, or preview, underneath it. You should provide users with a clear and detailed description of the content presented. This factor alone can help sell whether or not a user should click and learn more about your content. Spend time on optimizing your meta description to gain effective SEO results. You should also feature your chosen keyword in the meta description as well.
Robots Meta Tag
The robots meta tag provides insights to search engines on selected pages from your site that should be indexed. This tag alone serves to prevent a search engine from indexing individual pages. They inform “web crawlers” from search engines how to treat specific content or web pages on your site.
Alt Tag
An alt tag is a specific type of meta tag where it adds text data to images for “web crawlers” to “see” them. It can be known as an image optimization meta tag, an alt description, or an alt attribute. An alt tag allows you to add explanation to a photo so the crawlers understand its content. Alt tags show a signal for users to draw conclusions about what your website displays. Alt tags also help with website accessibility.
The images on your website should be available and accessible to both search engines and individuals. Alt tags provide your website the opportunity to ensure an alternative will appear if the original fails to. Including keywords into your alt tag isn’t necessary, but can be done. Using an alt tag is a great opportunity to improve your SEO while helping both search engines and individuals learn more about your images.
Why are they Important?
Meta Tag
As we mentioned before, one of the best factors of implementing meta tags is its ability to relay important information to your users and the “web crawlers” that visit your site. You can rely on what’s getting indexed and what is improving your website’s authority. A lot of meta tags are responsible for improving your website’s experience for users. When your website becomes more accessible and user friendly, the happier the individual feels about using your website.
Alt Tag
Alt tags are important to use within your website because they create clear descriptions that are easy to understand. Accessibility is key for alt tags especially for those who are unable to see them. Those who are sigh-impaired or can’t visually make out an image Including alt text within your images gives a promise to all users, regardless of vision ability, can appreciate the content of your website.
Alt tags also helps with optimizing a type of content that many business owners may feel operates more under an aesthetic quality. You may now use those dozens of photos on your website to rank higher in Google Image searches. The more you use these photos the possibility of increasing your rankings.
Checklist
Here are a few things you can look to improve when it comes to implementing meta and alt tags into your businesses website:
- Check whether all your pages and content have title tags and meta descriptions
- Search for duplicate pages to avoid crossing out similar content you already have.
- Use robot meta tags to help guide search engines on how they should access your content.
- Pay attention to:
- Your headings
- How your content is structured
- Remember to add alt tags to your images.
- Create a checklist for yourself to go through when implementing tags into your website or your content.
Do you need assistance optimizing your website? Start with a free website analysis from Boostability today to get started.
