On-Page SEO

Meta Keywords

A deprecated HTML meta tag for specifying keywords, no longer used by Google for ranking.

DeprecatedLast updated: 2026-09-16
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Definition

On-Page SEO

Meta keywords is an HTML meta tag that allowed webmasters to specify keywords for a page. Google has confirmed it does not use meta keywords as a ranking signal and has not for many years. Other search engines like Bing may use it minimally. The tag is deprecated and should not be relied upon for SEO.

Common misconceptions

  • Meta keywords help SEO — Google has not used them for ranking since at least 2009.
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