Keywords in categories

[belvedere +]

Hi,
I'm in the process of entering keywords into the "Keywords" box in the Category Settings for each category. However I've read in this forum that Google no longer makes use of keywords in a site. Because I'm finding this very time consuming so I just wanted to ask if I'm wasting my time because in won't have any effect on Google Search Engine or will it help, in which case I will carry on entering them through all the categories.

Thanks

[seymourjames +]

YES in a word. The vast majority of SEO professionals agree that keywords are not used or considered by Google or indeed most search engines.

title tags and meta descriptions are important though.

[Mike-N-Tosh +]

It is true that Google does not consider keywords any longer. I wouldn't say that it is a waste of time to enter them, however a few things that you need to bear in mind regarding keywords in general.

1) Some search engines do still consider the use of keywords
2) Only use keywords that are also contained within the page(s) content
3) Do NOT keyword SPAM (one of the main reasons Google doesn't use them anymore). Keyword SPAMMING is when you use excessive numbers of keywords, keywords that don't match page content.

Generally you simply want to have less than a dozen keywords and all of which are relevant and/or match words in your content.

[belvedere +]

title tags and meta descriptions are important though.

The standard length for meta descriptions in 68C I believe is 50 and can only be changed by modifying the viewlisting.php. Since i only have the Designer Version I can't change this setting. Do you think 50 is enough or is it worth upgrading to the Developer Version just to be able to change this setting.

Thanks

[seymourjames +]

Its plenty in reality. one sentence is fine.

[mjescobar +]

Originally Posted by seymourjames

YES in a word. The vast majority of SEO professionals agree that keywords are not used or considered by Google or indeed most search engines.

title tags and meta descriptions are important though.

Where do I find title tags and meta tags in my administration? I have a hosted account and in the settings area there is a section for keywords but I too have found that google doesn't pick up on my keywords.

[seymourjames +]

Well some pages are given title tags and meta descriptions based upon what you put into your 68C admin control panel. However, to undertake a full SEO for a site is a long and complex process. It is far from straight forward to give every page a unique title and description, moreover, to make sure all internal links have title tags embedded within those links, the correct use of rel="nofollow" to create the ideal crawling structure, etc. I can only point you to this post.

Search engine optimization on 68 classifieds

As explained. Keywords are not considered by Google because webmasters were using them to spam their search engine spider. It is hardly worth worrying about keywords but do worry about page titles and meta descriptions if your business model is dependent upon Google and other search engines.

[mjescobar +]

Thanks for the link!

[seymourjames +]

Also look at Google webmaster guidelines and do some searching around on how to perform SEO. Its a journey to be good at it.

[EnergyFreak +]

Is the description field in the categories considered to be the META description of the category itself? I left this empty because it would show up under each category on the front page. If this is important, how long should it be and how can I hide it?

Thanks