I know that the keyword meta tag is dead, just like punk rock is dead and Andy Kaufman is dead. Is there a huge, pressing reason to use it? No, of course not. A little research reveals that few engines, if any, even look at it anymore. Every little bit helps, right? What drives me nuts, however, is the common consensus among the few professionals I’ve met and spoken with on forums that seem to think that using the keyword meta tag is “giving it away.” I’m assuming “it” is the hours of backbreaking keyword research necessary to any optimization. And I suppose you’re giving it away to the competitors for the same keyword.
Well, the minute that you begin optimizing a site you are “giving it away.” Any number of tools (including the SEOQuake toolbar introduced through Firefox) analyze keyword density on a given page and, if you’ve done your job correctly, will compose a list of the keywords you’ve most successfully (and professionally, I’m sure) peppered throughout the content.
You’re giving it away in the ALT tags, known to be useful to the almighty Google, and description meta tag. If you’re crafting any special descriptions for dmoz (almost as useless as the keyword tag?), you’re giving it away there. You’re especially giving it away in the TITLE. If your company places any sort of button or link at the bottom of the page, you’re giving away the fact that the site has been optimized. If you’ve achived high enough rankings, there’s no way to cover your tracks or your keyword research. If anyone is stupid enough to be mining your keyword meta tag rather than knowing where to look for the REAL research (i.e, density and site title), then the keyword metatag is the perfect place for a few decoys as well as a few real ones because, I believe, it can’t hurt.
