News!! Adding Meta-Tags To Your Weblog Or To A Blog-Post

This article describes meta-tags: why in addition to how to add together them to your blog.  


It applies to whatever type of meta-tag except the description-tag:  Blogger introduced special editing tools for them inwards belatedly March 2012, thus they are covered separately.

What is a meta-tag, in addition to why would y'all usage one

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 meta-tag is a slice of HTML code that is institute within a webpage, in addition to contains information close the page.

When HTML was invented, meta-tags were used for information close who made each page, what it's about, in addition to what keywords apply to it. Originally search-engines used these tags to construct indexes (ie databases) close where to notice things.  However this doesn't oft come about now: spammers used meta-tags to prevarication to the search-engines, thus the search-engines got smarter in addition to ignored meta-tags.

Today, however, meta-tags are silent used to ambit "information" close websites to electronic visitors, for  many purposes.

For example, a search-engine or directory may enquire y'all to examine that y'all exercise ain a website which y'all claim to own, yesteryear adding a meta-tags of their pick to it. PInterest lets website-owners opt out of having their sites shared / pinned yesteryear adding a specific meta-tag that effectively says "Nope, you're non allowed to pivot this one". And Facebook uses (still? perchance it's used now) open-graph meta tags to allow us laid the moving painting in addition to text that are shown when a page is shared.

There are a broad multifariousness of meta-tags silent inwards usage on the spider web today.  And they are a clever idea: no ane needs to laid the "rules" close what meta-tags are allowed - they merely take to last available to whatever electronic-visitors run into them on a website.

What does a meta-tag aspect like

These are some illustration meta-tags:

<meta name="description" content="Adding pictures to your spider web log without using gadgets" />

<meta name="keywords" content="HTML,images, filestore, picture" /> 

<meta name="author" content="Mary Smith" />

Each ane has ii parts (in technical terms, this organisation is called a "name/value pair"):

1. some text that says what the meta-tag is close  (eg description, author)
2. some text that contains the value for this instance (eg  "Mary Smith")

This thought has been used inwards other ways besides - instead of "name" some meta-tags usage other values, similar

<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />  

If y'all aspect at your blog's template, y'all may notice that at that spot are already meta-tags there, which Blogger added to every post in addition to page.   For illustration inwards Blogger-HAT's template I tin see:

<meta content='some-verification-codes-from-Google' name='google-site-verification'/>

<meta content='IE=EmulateIE7' http-equiv='X-UA-Compatible'/>

<b:if cond='data:blog.isMobile'>
      <meta content='width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=0' name='viewport'/>
<b:else/>

The start is a verification tag from webmaster key that I added a long fourth dimension ago, spell the others are meta-tags that Blogger developers decided would last goodness to have.

What does each meta-tag apply to

Odd One Out
Nigel Chadwick [CC-BY-SA-2.0],
via Wikimedia Commons

Before adding a meta-tag y'all take to decide whether it applies to every screen (ref:  Blogger, blogs in addition to bloggers, Posts, Pages in addition to screens) that your spider web log shows, or whether it exclusively applies to an private post.

As a full general rule, recollect close what the content of the meta-tag means:  unless y'all tin run into how it specifically relates to textile inwards a post, thus y'all are in all probability best adding it to your whole blog.

How to add together a meta-tag to a blog-post

Description meta-tags are a special case, in addition to I'll last publishing a split upward article close them some other day.

But for all other types of meta-tag, Blogger's Post-editor doesn't allow whatever other kind of meta-tags: fifty-fifty if y'all become into HTML trend in addition to type them in, they volition last automatically removed when y'all divulge the post or aspect at inwards ane time to a greater extent than inwards Compose mode.

So to add together other tags to specific posts, y'all take to


1)   Edit your template - don't expand the widgets.


2)   Find this text:

<head> 

You may take to aspect for <head SOME-OTHER-STUFF>, depending on what template y'all are using. Usually I  search for "<head", ie without the closing bracket, in addition to brand sure that I exercise what is needed subsequently the closing bracket >.

3)   Add this business of code subsequently the <head> tag:

<b:if cond='data:blog.canonicalUrl == "PUT-THE-POST-URL-HERE"'>
< THE META-TAG YOU WANT TO ADD>
</b:if>

replacing:

• <THE META-TAG YOU WANT TO ADD> - amongst the actual meta-tag details, and
• PUT-THE-POST-URL-HERE amongst the total address of the post. 

This means you cannot add together the meta-tags until y'all know the post's URL, ie after the post has been published for the start time. This is a lilliputian tedious, but non impossible. You merely take to publish the post, get the URL, in addition to then edit your template in addition to add together the meta-tag information for the post

Alternatively, y'all could merely apply the tag to your so-called abode page by adding the tag amongst a "home page only" conditional, eg

<b:if cond='data:blog.canonicalUrl == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
THE CODE FOR YOUR META-TAG(s) GOES IN HERE
</b:if>

Adding meta-tags to your whole blog

This is most appropriate for tags that really should apply to every unmarried page on your blog:   what these are depends on how your spider web log is organised, in addition to what y'all hold off the meta-tags to last used for.

Again, description meta-tags are a special case, in addition to volition last covered separately.

You tin add together non-description meta-tags yesteryear editing your template in addition to putting the meta-tag contention somewhere inwards the header, ie

after  <head  SOME-OTHER STUFF>
before  </head>

Make sure that y'all lay the meta-tag contention in-between the other HTML statements inwards the header, ie subsequently a closing > in addition to earlier an opening one>

What your readers see

People who see your spider web log won't run into anything dissimilar provided you've installed the meta-tags properly.

But search-engine-spiders in addition to other computer-based visitors volition read the contents of the meta-tags. This may campaign them to display things close your spider web log differently at their halt (eg a description within Facebook), but won't brand whatever departure when a human visitor is looking at your blog.

Is it worth it?

Only y'all tin create upward one's heed if it's worth the problem of adding meta-tags to your blog.

If you're doing it thus your site ownership tin last verified, thus it's almost surely worthwhile.

And apparently Blogger thinks that description tags are worthwile - because they've given us a way to edit them within the post-editor.

But if you're doing it for SEO, thus that your spider web log ranks higher inwards search results, or looks to a greater extent than attractive / clickable on the result-pages, thus the exclusively respond is "it depends". There expanse a lot of unknowns close SEO: at that spot are experts who are adamanent that sure meta-tags are essential for your spider web log to exercise good inwards search. They may last right.  They may convey been right - for a few weeks or fifty-fifty months or years, but some people believe they are non right now.   Others say that meta-tags silent matter, because tags, peculiarly description tags, influence what body-text is shown inwards seach-engine-result-pages (SERPS).   But really, only the search-engine makes know the existent answer.   And fifty-fifty then, their respond may alter tomorrow if a novel search-algorithm alter is applied.

What exercise y'all think?

Do y'all convey specific examples where adding a meta-tag has made your spider web log meliorate inwards some way?

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