Keywords And Description format questions

[anitawa@oakharbor.net]

Hi All new here :^)
Looking for proper format for meta tags..
We are using Bcentral SubmitIT. the question is about comas used in keywords and description meta tags. MS say use no more than 3 commas or its spamming search engines.. But all the other real estate site meta tags, I look at have commas in the tags. Whats the proper format to separate keywords and description tags??
site; www.islandbrokersrealty.com
thanks for any help you can provide
regards gene

[minstrel]

See the keywords, commas, spaces (http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=8664) thread for information - MSN and/or SubmitIt may have their own restrictions, of course, but can you post the URL to where MS says this?

[anitawa@oakharbor.net]

Thanks for the Info. I Can't post the link to bcentral as it requires you to log into our account, but I can copy/paste the info...
Quote from Bcentral web site. listed under what not to do

"List keywords anywhere except in your keywords meta tag. By "list" we mean something like - keyword 1, keyword 2, keyword 3, keyword 4, etc. There are very few legitimate reasons that a list of keywords would actually appear on a web page or within the page's HTML code and the search engines know this. While you may have a legitimate reason for doing this we would recommend avoiding it so that you do not risk being penalized by the search engines"

When I list my keyword phrases separated by more than 3 commas it puts up the "Spam Flag".
regards gene

[minstrel]

When I list my keyword phrases separated by more than 3 commas it puts up the "Spam Flag".
If I understand this (and my youngest son gave me the 'flu this weekend so maybe I don't), SubmitIt is saying that you can't use more than three keywords or keyphrases in their submission service.

That doesn't mean that you can't have more than that on your actual page, however; it's just saying that to submit to their list of sites they won't take more than three.

At present, I still think it's important to have a description meta tag and a keywords meta tag but be aware that the title and actual content of the page (bearing in mind the SubmitIt warning about simple repetition of keywords being interpreted as spamming or spoofing) are more important in how you'll rank in most SE listings. You'll find a lot of information in these forums about the importance of having other sites link to yours, as well.

[toasty]

I also had some questions about how to target the right keywords...

I have been checking out WordTracker and it seems to generate some good data, but is this "KEI-index" really useful? I mean, I get some pretty abysmal scores for my keywords & terms with the KEI-index for Google! I was thinking it might be better to target a couple of keywords with high "Count" scores and use them in combination on a webpage.

Is that an effective strategy?

[minstrel]

I'll let someone else address the question about WordTracker because I've never used one of those programs or services.


I also had some questions about how to target the right keywords...
I think selecting the "right keywords" is a lot less difficult and mysterious than many people think. It boils down to three core factors:

(1) ask yourself, "what words would people type in to a search engine if they were looking for a product or service that I offer?" Try a few, and not just on Google - what comes up? One of the things you'll probably discover quickly is that a keyphrase is more useful than a keyword: e.g., "new york campground" is going to find you better than "campground" or "new york", assuming that's your service. But try several combinations and see what different search engines actually list. And I don't mean simulators here - I mean take the time to look at the actual search engine results. The reason for this is...

(2) Look at your competition, especially those who rank higher or close to you in SE listings - what keywords and phrases are they using? Why not include some of those the #1 site is using on your site?

(3) use different but relevant keywords or phrases for different pages on your site, again sleecting them from #1 and #2 above.

Once you've identified your keywords and phrases,

(4) make good use of them in your page TITLES - that's more important than putting the name of your company in the title in some cases, although it doesn't have to be a mutually exclusive thing in my opinion, unless you have a really long company name.

(5) think about a domain name that is similar to a word or phrase that someone would type in to find you

[anitawa@oakharbor.net]

Thanks to all for the help- it seems MicroSoft wants to limit keywords and description tags to 255 char each. Every other high ranking site, that I have looked at, has 3 to 4 times that number. Currently I have ben trying only 3 phrases that apply to the page content, with relavant page titles. I am going to add more keywords that will apply. It seemed odd that Ms said not to use more than 3 commas or risk being classifed as spam. I hope this help to bring SE ranking up.

regards gene
www.islandbrokersrealty.com

[anitawa@oakharbor.net]

Just wanted to say thanks :-)
This site has helped me move up tp between 1st and 10th positions for our market on msn, using the tips I have found here.
Now time to work on google and alta-vista submissions
Thanks Alot !!