Advantages and disadvantages of Meta tags

     In this post I discuss the pros and cons of meta tags. Meta tags can bring tangible value to a site's SEO, but there are a few important aspects to keep in mind so as not to overdo it and have the opposite effect to the one intended. 

    One aspect to keep in mind is that keywords meta tags are closer to categories than to keywords, so you should assign tags so that keywords are narrow in meaning but so that they describe more articles than just one. What's more, creating individual tags for each article separately can cause so-called keyword cannibalization (Ignisdev, 2019). According to Yoast (2023) keyword cannibalization means that posts or articles that have similar subject  either by containing comparable content or by having been given the same tags are compete with each other on  for search engine positioning. For example, on Google a search for one phrase can bring up to 3 results from the same domain. What this means than putting similar tags will cause pages to eat each other. 

    The advantage of the keyword meta tag is to make it easier for users to navigate a website by categorizing content. Futhermore, it can positively affect a site's positioning. However, the unskillful use of too many tags can lead to adverse effects, including keyword cannibalization.

Reference

Ignisdev (2019) Website tags – advantages and disadvantages of tagging. Available at: https://www.ignisdev.com/en/blog-content/website-tags-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-tagging (Accessed: 12 February 2023).

Yoast (2023) What is keyword cannibalization?. Available at: https://yoast.com/keyword-cannibalization/#:~:text=Keyword%20cannibalization%20means%20that%20you,them%20for%20the%20same%20keyphrase (Accessed: 12 February 2023).