Formatting Meta tags: title VS DC.title VS http-equiv=title

Sergio Simarro · #1 (**permalink**) 05-08-2004, 06:30 AM

Hi WebProViewers.

When someone starts with SEO, one of the most commons technics is to view the source code of your main competitors or you most relevant sites. That is what happened to me!

Now I prefer reading articles and forums like this one, so I can have a global idea and find the right way.

However, there is a question I have never found and which comes to my mind each time I hear the words meta tags: what is exactly the difference between:

<meta name="title" content="My Title">

<meta name="title" content="DC.Title">

<meta http-equiv="title" content="My Title">

? (and the same with keywords and description meta tags)

Should I use all them three into my web pages or just the first one (this is the most common everybody talks)?

Well, I think some will know (or DC.know?) about it.
Kind regards.

Flying Addicted eMarketer · #2 (**permalink**) 05-08-2004, 12:13 PM

Searching for the same answer... SOmeone post plz;-)

FAE

Sergio Simarro · #3 (**permalink**) 05-10-2004, 04:17 AM

Sorry, what do you mean? You are requesting the same answer or you want to say to me that this question has been previously done?

Thanks.

Flying Addicted eMarketer · #4 (**permalink**) 05-10-2004, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sergio Simarro

Sorry, what do you mean? You are requesting the same answer or you want to say to me that this question has been previously done?

Thanks.

Im requesting the same answer... but nobody seems to know the answer or they are too lazy to post... I dont know... I sure hope someone will post... I'd like to more about .DC tags and if they helped for SEO... I know they come form the core dublin project...
http://www.seoconsultants.com/meta-tags/dublin/
but i'm not sure if they helped your ranking in anyway... Someone PLZ;-)

FAE

Sergio Simarro · #5 (**permalink**) 05-12-2004, 03:34 AM

Thanks FAE for your information. I will read more about Dublin project in the link provided and I will post any information about it I get.

Don´t worry, we will solve the mistery!

Kind regards.

Sergio Simarro · #6 (**permalink**) 05-18-2004, 05:24 AM

I have found something about DC metadata:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/bcase/benefits.html

Mistery continues...

Mel · #7 (**permalink**) 05-18-2004, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sergio Simarro

Hi WebProViewers.

When someone starts with SEO, one of the most commons technics is to view the source code of your main competitors or you most relevant sites. That is what happened to me!

Now I prefer reading articles and forums like this one, so I can have a global idea and find the right way.

However, there is a question I have never found and which comes to my mind each time I hear the words meta tags: what is exactly the difference between:

<meta name="title" content="My Title">

<meta name="title" content="DC.Title">

<meta http-equiv="title" content="My Title">

? (and the same with keywords and description meta tags)

Should I use all them three into my web pages or just the first one (this is the most common everybody talks)?

Well, I think some will know (or DC.know?) about it.
Kind regards.

One of the quirks of this web we all use is that there is no governing body and no standards committee charged with setting standards worldwide, but the W3C does provide guidelines which have come into the mainstream as the most popular, and on their site you can find infromation about the common tags in use.

But to answer your question:
Actually IMO you should use none of the above so far as SEO goes.

The only page title that is read and indexed for rankings by search engines is title tag (<title></title>) which should be at the very top of the page right after your <head> tag.

The Meta Description tag is read and indexed by many engines (read but not indexed by Google) but is important because many search engines use the meta description as the description in the SERPs, and thus it is important to the conversion of viewers to site vistors.

The meta keywords tag is used by only a few engines for rankings purposes (Yahoo, Inktomi and Altavista among them).

The Dublin Core tags (DC tags) are a set of tags proposed by the Dublin Core Metadata Intitive (DCMI) which were proposed to provide greater compatibility but these have yet to be adopted widely, and so far as I know, none of thier proposed tags are used in ranking by any search engines.

The other metatags you asked about such as <meta name="description" content="" are alternatives to the normally accepted ones. Full information about thier suggested usage can be found on the W3C website (http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/global.html

Flying Addicted eMarketer · #8 (**permalink**) 05-26-2004, 10:31 PM

Thanks Mel;-)

Now I know...

Flying Addicted eMarketer

fernimac · #9 (**permalink**) 05-27-2004, 11:48 AM

Hi from Alicante :)

I read all about the Dublin Core Initiative and I tend to use it. I don't think it makes a difference in the rankings, but, anyway, I don't think it hurts either. So, if one gets used to it, we should be prepared for what's next. And sooner or later, some type of standard, be it the DC or another, will be chosen as a widely accepted rule. You can see an example of the implementation in some pages at the lettinginspain.com home page. DC is required by some Public Administrations in the US.

Fernando

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