Do you use Meta Keywords nows?

Hello

Can anyone tell me answer to one question?
I am using search functions for hours now and the more I search, the more i get confused.

My query is should we used Meta keywords in wordpress or not?

Currently i am not using meta tags to avoid over optimization. Is it a myth or reality about possible penalty on using meta keywords

thanks

No, they are useless.

You can use them, but it won't matter. Google doesn't give a flying f.. about them anymore. It's actually recommended not to use them to avoid competiton finding out the KWs you're targeting...(though there are millions of other ways to find them out but..yeah.)

I'm going to have to disagree with the others who posted, I think they are still relevant, only, slightly less.

The updates to Penguin have most certainly been targeted towards spam, however, if you are simply using tags to show relevance it can't hurt.

Google is leaning towards a way more UX based experience and anything that points to the topic is a good thing. The main focus is not over stuffing tags & keywords. This will most likely result in a penalty, so add 3 tags at most, but don't make it your main focus.

Do not waste time with meta keywords. They does not matter.

ChakraDaddy said:

I'm going to have to disagree with the others who posted, I think they are still relevant, only, slightly less.

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I totally agree with ChakraDaddy on this!

Meta Keywords is one of my favorite HTML tags... The real experts use it all the time here is how.

• First: Term frequency is still the cornerstone of relevance algorithms. In a nutshell whoever says it more is more relevant. This is why to this day Google still employs human beings to punish keyword stuffing... they wouldn't do that if it didn't work. So meta keywords is one more legal source match for your target keyword.
• Second: It is the best way I have seen to keep track of what target search term a page should be targeting. It makes it easier to figure out the SEO intentions and performance for a site if you are keeping track of this. It also makes things much easier to do scripted rank tracking for each page to see how your intended targeting is doing. It is a real expert move.
• Third: It isn't the strongest factor but I still do see it correlate with ranking position. If it is a factor I would estimate that it is about as strong as the HTTPS bonus which got nerfed a while ago.

Clearly Google does not punish using meta keywords properly and I just gave you three pro reasons to get on it!

Trying to hide the keywords you are targeting from competition is silly... it has to be the most obvious part of the page or google wont rank you for it. Don't waste time and effort trying to hide what you want to be publicly known for...that is just silly.

the "real experts" don't use them at all google doesn't use them for ranking in any way, so the previous example for keyword stuffing etc. is just plain wrong, as the bot will simply ignore the keyword line from the meta tags.
here is why: https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html

itz_styx said:

the "real experts" don't use them at all google doesn't use them for ranking in any way, so the previous example for keyword stuffing etc. is just plain wrong, as the bot will simply ignore the keyword line from the meta tags.
here is why: https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html

Click to expand...

Maybe...

<meta name="keywords" content="Amazon Echo, Alexa, home assistant, voice controlled, Bluetooth speaker" />

But I guess my correlation data and amazon and others still disagree with you. Don't get me wrong... I don't give a shit about what is or isn't a factor, but I don't believe blog posts either. For me to change my mind the data has to tell a different story. So I guess that leaves everyone in the position of taking some measurements and deciding for themselves.

saqib1234 said:

Hello

Can anyone tell me answer to one question?
I am using search functions for hours now and the more I search, the more i get confused.

My query is should we used Meta keywords in wordpress or not?

Currently i am not using meta tags to avoid over optimization. Is it a myth or reality about possible penalty on using meta keywords

thanks

Click to expand...

this might shed some light on it
https://www.semrush.com/blog/the-myths-behind-meta-keywords/

validseo said:

Maybe...

<meta name="keywords" content="Amazon Echo, Alexa, home assistant, voice controlled, Bluetooth speaker" />

But I guess my correlation data and amazon and others still disagree with you. Don't get me wrong... I don't give a shit about what is or isn't a factor, but I don't believe blog posts either. For me to change my mind the data has to tell a different story. So I guess that leaves everyone in the position of taking some measurements and deciding for themselves.

Click to expand...

its not just a random blog post, its officially from google. also check the video where matt cutts (ex head of webspam at google) tells you why they completely ignore the keywords meta tag. usually i'd say whatever google says doesn't work, usually works, but in this case... its been years that meta keywords hold no value anymore for ranking on google and its been tested in various case studies. anyways suit yourself, if you chose to waste your time with this, its up to you... for me to change my mind, show me some data that shows otherwise. did you do A/B testing on thousands of domains in different niches to have such data? if so then show it here, otherwise everyone can say "my data shows different". trying things on 2-3 sites doesn't provide solid evidence to even guess what works!

Meta keywords are not matter nowadays. So, It's your wish to add meta keywords.

Now a days, Google doesn't consider Meta keywords - Because it will not increase your SERP.
But if your competitors are using, you can easily find out which keyword they targeting for that page.

I still leave it there, well, I don't know it will help.

itz_styx said:

its not just a random blog post, its officially from google. also check the video where matt cutts (ex head of webspam at google) tells you why they completely ignore the keywords meta tag. usually i'd say whatever google says doesn't work, usually works, but in this case... its been years that meta keywords hold no value anymore for ranking on google and its been tested in various case studies. anyways suit yourself, if you chose to waste your time with this, its up to you... for me to change my mind, show me some data that shows otherwise. did you do A/B testing on thousands of domains in different niches to have such data? if so then show it here, otherwise everyone can say "my data shows different". trying things on 2-3 sites doesn't provide solid evidence to even guess what works!

Click to expand...

If you want to believe everything you are told by Google then have at it... until the data tells a different story I'm going with my data. I know most people will disagree with me, but I see no reason to change my view point until the data changes. Like I said. I don't care if it is or if it isn't a factor... I stopped giving a shit about that when I started measuring everything and computing statistical correlations of factors. And when you start doing that you quickly learn that everything you know is largely wrong. I know because it happened to me. I don't trust the group think anymore and I am just going off my data... which says it is not harmful and appears to be a little bit helpful... AND it is a great organizational tool... and the best SEOs at the top online retailers still use it today despite the "group think"... what a controversy! not worth the meltdown dude.

Answering your questions even though I don't think you really care at this point. I have probably analyzed the top 100 results of about a hundred thousand keywords to date with my software and dozens of other professionals and academics have too in the closed betas for it. So not 2-3 sites but probably close to a million. I do not do A/B testing to do this... that is the wrong tool for the job. I measure over 300 on-page factors for each result in a search and then calculate correlation coefficients for each factor versus the rank position. Then I sort the results by the factors that were most impactful and statistically significant to 95% certainty or better. I even calculate Spearman's and Pearson's because not all factors trend in straight lines.

Cheers

apparently you didn't properly read what i said and just for the record you contradict yourself..first you say you believe in your questionable data, then that you don't give a shit if its a factor or not. make up your mind..
anyways i couldn't care less, like i said suit yourself and waste your time

i use them and i think they are useful

itz_styx said:

apparently you didn't properly read what i said and just for the record you contradict yourself..first you say you believe in your questionable data, then that you don't give a shit if its a factor or not. make up your mind..
anyways i couldn't care less, like i said suit yourself and waste your time

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Nope... no contradiction at all. I don't care what the factors are... I invest in the ones that the data says are probable... that is about as pure as it gets.

No harm in using them but do not count on them for serps.

If you are targetting more keyword in same article use meta that may help as we could not put all info in site title.

If you want to rank your website on Google then the meta keywords are of no use, so it doesn't matter whether you add the meta keywords or not. But, Bing and a few other search engines still consider the meta keywords as ranking factor, so if you want to rank well on Bing then you should add meta keywords.

And, make sure not to add more keywords, just add a few keywords which are relevant to that page.