Advantages and Disadvantages of Meta Tags

(Sophat, 2021)

Meta tag could also be defined as "an element that provides information about the metadata of an HTML document. This information could be the keywords, author, page description or any other details about the specific page. Unlike other HTML tags, however, a meta tag is not visible or displayed in the concerned page" (Rouse, 2017).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Meta Tags

Advantages

In an article published on a website called DevOps Support, it is determined 3 advantages of Meta Tags:

1-Improve search engine visibility: Utilizing meta tags can enhance a page's visibility for search engines, potentially resulting in improved search engine rankings and heightened visitor numbers.

2-Better user experience: Meta tags can offer users additional insights into a page's content, potentially leveraging click-through rates and enhancing the overall user experience. 

3-Increased web traffic: Through the enhancement of search engine rankings and click-through rates, meta tags can contribute to the augmentation of web traffic to a site.

Disadvantages

In the same article, it is also listed 3 disadvantages of Meta Tags: 

Limited impact on rankings: Although meta tags can enhance a website's visibility on search engines, they constitute one of the numerous criteria that search engines consider when evaluating page rankings. Additional elements such as page content, backlinks, and user interaction also factor into search engine rankings.

Potential for spam: Certain website administrators may attempt to manipulate search engines by overloading meta tags with unrelated or spam-related keywords. This behaviour can detrimentally impact both search engine rankings and the user experience.

Time-consuming: Crafting and maintaining meta tags can demand a substantial amount of time, particularly for expansive websites containing numerous pages.

Reference(s): 

DevOps Support (2023) DevOps Support Available at: Uses of meta tags and Advantages and disadvantages - DevOps Support (Accessed: 04/09/2023)

Wordstream (n.d.) Wordstream Available at: Meta Keywords: What They Are and How They Work (wordstream.com) (Accessed: 04/09/2023)

Rouse, M (2017) Techopedia Available at: What is a Meta Tag? - Definition from Techopedia (Accessed: 04/09/2023)

Sophat, J (2021) Orange plastic blocks on white surface Available at: Orange plastic blocks on white surface photo – Free Blender Image on Unsplash (Accessed: 04/09/2023)

Yasar, K (2023) TechTarget Available at: What is a Meta Description? A Definition from TechTarget.com (Accessed: 04/09/2023)