New SEM Tool: Meta Keywords Research

[ApogeeWebLLC]

Hi,

I've been advising my clients to avoid using the meta keywords tag. To show why, I've put together a free keyword research tool that grabs the meta keywords from a competitor's web page. The tool then lists each keyword with links for further research on Overture, Google and NicheBot. Here's the tool:

http://www.apogee-web-consulting.com/tools/keyword_tool.php

It's useful for 2 reasons:
1) Convinces clients to avoid meta keywords tag
2) Provides good platform to start keyword research by
analyzing competition.

I'm posting here as I've gotten some good feedback on the tool and figure it might be useful for fellow SEM professionals. I'm trying to make good use of my bandwidth.

-Rich

[Michael Martinez]

Okay, I'm stumped. What is the value that your tool is offering? And why don't you think people should be using the keywords meta tag?

[strategicrankings]

So you advise people not to use the keywords tag to prevent competitors from seeing their target keyword set, right?

There's a "less acceptable" way of doing that, its called cloaking.

Some search engines and directories apparently use the keyword tag, so IMHO it can be a wrong move to not use the kw tags.

[ApogeeWebLLC]

Okay, I'm stumped. What is the value that your tool is offering? And why don't you think people should be using the keywords meta tag?

In light of the fact that major search engines no longer utilize the meta keywords tag or else place very little weight on it, I argue that there is more risk than reward in using it. As search engine marketing becomes more prominent, more of your competitors are optimizing for the search engines and savvy competitors are bidding for relevant keywords on PPC search engines. Why provide your competition with a nicely formatted list of your important keywords? Why make critical business knowledge freely available on your web site? Choosing the right keywords and then optimizing your site for those keywords and, perhaps, bidding for those keywords on PPC engines creates a competitive advantage for your company. Why give away the foundation for that competitive advantage?

What's the value of the tool? When I begin work for a new client, I'll ask them for a list of their competitors. I love it when those competitors employ the meta keywords tag. I'll plug a competitor's domain (or specific pages from their site) into the tool and that generates a list of their keywords and links to keyword research tools pre-populated with the keyword phrases. This gives me a quick start with keyword research for my new client's site.

[strategicrankings]

Some valid points you put here. But what do you do if the competitors do not use the keyword tag at all? Then a solution is to revert back to your clients kw set and see (1) who are the top competitors for the same kw set (2) where the competitors site rank for the given kw set.

So as you said since the kw tag is not important anymore, using it in some cases may lead to wrong analysis.

jut my 2cts

[Michael Martinez]

In light of the fact that major search engines no longer utilize the meta keywords tag or else place very little weight on it, I argue that there is more risk than reward in using it. As search engine marketing becomes more prominent, more of your competitors are optimizing for the search engines and savvy competitors are bidding for relevant keywords on PPC search engines.

The only thing a truly "savvy" optimizer is going to look at is which pages come up first for a specific search. The query itself provides all the required information about keywords.

Anyone who thinks there is something else embedded in the keywords tag that is getting the page up to the top of the results doesn't know what they are doing. Frankly, if a site isn't ranking for anything, looking at its keywords meta tag, title tag, headers, or anything else is a waste of time.

In short, no one has anything to lose by using their keywords meta tag effectively.

What's the value of the tool? When I begin work for a new client, I'll ask them for a list of their competitors. I love it when those competitors employ the meta keywords tag. I'll plug a competitor's domain (or specific pages from their site) into the tool and that generates a list of their keywords and links to keyword research tools pre-populated with the keyword phrases. This gives me a quick start with keyword research for my new client's site.

I see.

Thank you.

[St0n3y]

I would rather convince my clients that it is a useless exercise to look at their competitors keyword tags to see what they are targeting. Non-savvy competitors may be going after all the wrong phrases. What matters? Keywords search volume and competition for those phrases.

Any relevant phrases can easily be found via WordTracker, Google and Overture (oops, I mean Yahoo! Search Marketing Solutions).

[ApogeeWebLLC]

Some valid points you put here. But what do you do if the competitors do not use the keyword tag at all? Then a solution is to revert back to your clients kw set and see (1) who are the top competitors for the same kw set (2) where the competitors site rank for the given kw set.

Yeah, absolutely right. Looking at competitors' meta keywords tags is no substitute for "full" keyword research, i.e. brainstorming with the client, getting to know their business and industry, studying the content of competitors' sites, studying sites of publications or trade groups relevant to their industry, etc. It's simply a quick start or a platform for further keyword research.