How to Add Meta Tags to Web Pages

Tags, also known as META tags, are used to describe your web page to search engines. When a user enters in a keyword search, search engines scour web pages to return a list of pages that meet that search criteria. Web pages that lack META tags run the risk of having the search engines grab a description based on other information, such as the first few lines, on the site, which may or may not be an accurate portrayal of the contents of the particular web page.

Step 1

Open your web page in a HTML editor or text editor like Notepad.

Step 2

Locate the "Head" () tags. The "Head" tags are at the beginning of your web page and contain the title of your web page.

Step 3

Insert the META description tag in between the Head tags. The META description tag contains the description of your web page. This tag will be displayed at the top of the user's web browser (above the URL address). The tag should look like this (after content you would enter your own description):

Step 4

Type the META keyword tag after the META description tag. The META keyword tag helps search engines find your web page when a user enters in compatible keywords. The keywords should reflect what the web page is about. The tag should look like this (after content you would enter your own keywords):

Step 5

Save your web page.

Tips

You can capitalize (META) or leave the tags in lower case (meta). Search engines will read lower case or capitalized HTML tags the same.

References

About the Author

Si Kingston has been an online content contributor since 2004, with work appearing on websites such as MadeMan. She is a professional screenwriter and young-adult novelist and was awarded the Marion-Hood Boesworth Award for Young Fiction in 2008. Kingston holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Mills College.