What to Put in a WordPress Website Meta Tag
A meta tag is a snippet of HTML code that describes the content of a particular web page. In the case of a WordPress website, the meta tag is what appears in the head of the page. The HTML code of a WordPress page looks a little different than that of a typical web page, because it has extra tags that help WordPress determine what content should go where on the page.
Let’s take a look at some of the more common meta tags that you’ll find on WordPress websites and how to use them effectively.
Description
The description meta tag is used to provide a short blurb about the web page. When a user hovers over a thumbnail of a web page in their browser, the description appears under the thumbnail in small text. This is often used in conjunction with the title tag to give a fuller description of what the page is about. In many cases, the description and title tags are used together to create a brief, easy-to-understand summary of the page’s contents. If you have a lot of content on your page and the summary tag is not enough, you can always add more text and a longer description.
Keywords
Your webpage’s content may be any number of things. It could be about the history of pizza, it could be an analysis of the best vacuum cleaners, or it could be a shopping guide to help consumers find what they’re looking for. When a user performs a search on a search engine the keywords appear as part of the description that the website’ll show when the search results come up. When a user performs a search in their browser, the keywords will appear in the drop down menu that appears next to the web address.
Adding relevant keywords to your content is a great way to ensure that your website shows up when someone types in a search term that’s relevant to your content. Do your research on the best keywords and phrases that could apply to your website, and make sure to incorporate them into your content. When someone finds your website in the search results, they’ll have the chance to click through to your content, which means you can earn some affiliate earnings if they buy a product that’s promoted on your site.
Robots
Like the description and keywords tags, the robots meta tag is used to provide more content for search engines to crawl. When a user types in a search term, they’ll be presented with a variety of results, including your website. A robots meta tag will tell the search engine that you want your website to be shown in search results, and that you don’t want it to be hidden by a paid ad.
The robots tag isn’t used solely for search engines. Users can also set certain preferences in their browser to exclude specific websites from appearing in their search results. If you want your site to be seen by as many users as possible, make sure to include the robots tag in your content. You don’t have to have every piece of content on your site marked with the robots tag, but it can certainly help.
Creative Commons Attribution
As the name suggests, the creative commons attribution tag allows you to give attribution to the source of the content you’re sharing on your website. Essentially, you’re saying “Hey, everyone out there, this is me. I created this. Thanks!” The attribution tag appears as an image icon beneath each piece of content on your site. If you share a blog post that contains a lot of useful information, it’s a great idea to add the attribution tag to give credit where credit is due. Creative commons attribution is a great way to let your readership know where content came from and allow them to share in the creative process.
Author Bio
The author bio meta tag is mostly used for author blogs. When a user clicks on a link to an author’s bio, they’ll see a short summary of the author’s background and career. This tag gives the reader more information about the person who wrote the content, and it provides a link back to the author’s website. In many cases, the summary is the only content on the page, and it’s presented in an easy-to-read, informal prose that makes it more accessible to a general audience. Sometimes the bio can be quite detailed, providing the reader with lots of information about the author’s career and life.
If you’re fortunate enough to have a lot of content to put on your site, you might consider using the author bio tag to give it a more polished and professional appearance. Sometimes a simple “Bio” is not enough. Depending on the nature of your site and the depth of your content, you may want to consider creating an actual author bio that briefly describes your background, interests, and experience. With a little bit of polish and a unique voice, your bio will make an excellent addition to your author bio page on your website.
Blog Tour
The blog tour meta tag is a fantastic way to get the word out about your blog, or the blog of a co-author on your site. When you use the blog tour feature on a site like WordPress, it’ll present you with a variety of options for hosting a tour on your site. You can either choose to do a traditional webinar, where you talk with a moderator and a number of attendees participate via chat; you could do a hangout session, where you host a video call with up to three people participating; or you could do a Q&A with up to three people in the chat box during the event.
One of the great things about the blog tour feature is that it gives you the opportunity to try out a variety of platforms and gain experience with each one. If you’ve never created a blog or a website, the blog tour is a great way to get started, because it gives you a taste of what’s involved. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you can move on to more advanced features.
Content Type
The content type meta tag is used to identify the type of content that you’re sharing on your site. WordPress offers a variety of content types, each with their own set of formatting options and usage guidelines. Once you’ve chosen the content that you’ll use on your site, you can use the content type meta tag to help you format it appropriately.
You might want to use the content type meta tag to identify blog posts, product reviews, or podcasts. When a user lands on your site and clicks on a piece of content, they’ll see a small pop-up describing the content’s type. If you add useful information to your blog post, you may also want to use the content type meta tag to give it more credibility and authority within the blogosphere. If you’re running a podcast and want to add it to your site, you can use the content type meta tag to let your listeners know what type of content they’re going to be hearing.
Prev / next post
The prev / next post meta tags are used to display previous and subsequent posts in a blog or an on-site news feed. When a user clicks on the title of a previous post or the first post in a blog’s series, they’ll be presented with a series of posts, each one connected to the previous one through the “prev” tag. If a user clicks on the title of a subsequent post in the series, they’ll see the posts in the order that they were published, connected by the “next” tag. If a user clicks on a link to a post outside of the series, they’ll see a listing of all of the posts in the blog, with the most recent at the top.
Sometimes it’s useful to be able to scroll through a blog’s archived posts in chronological order. If you have a lot of content, it can be hard to keep track of what came before. Having the ability to click on a post’s title and have it load up instantly is great when you want to quickly catch up on what was published previously.