Is the Keywords Meta Tag Obsolete?

Key Takeaways

• Google does not use the keywords meta tag for indexing or ranking.
• Check your title, description, robots directive, and canonical link before publishing.
• Research the words your customers use and answer their questions on the page.
• Check whether another system uses a legacy keywords field before removing it.

Yes: Google says the keywords meta tag has no effect on indexing or ranking in Google Search. If you’re asking whether the keywords meta tag is obsolete for Google, stop filling in that CMS field for SEO.

Why Google ignores meta keywords

The tag lets publishers list terms that readers never see on the page. Publishers stuffed it with irrelevant terms, and Google said in 2009 that it did not use the tag in web ranking. The answer to “does Google use meta keywords?” remains no.

That does not mean you should ignore the words your customers search for. Use those words to choose a topic and write a page that answers the question. Do not put a list of variations into a hidden field.

Which page elements still matter

• Title element: Write a concise, descriptive title. Google may use it for the search-result title link, though it may show other text instead. The title element is not a meta tag.
• Meta description: Summarize the page for someone deciding whether to click. Google may use your description for a snippet or choose text from the page. Google does not use the description tag for ranking.
• Robots directive: Use noindex when you want to keep a page out of Google Search. Google must be able to crawl the page to read that directive, so a robots.txt block can prevent it from seeing noindex.
• Canonical link: Use rel="canonical" to identify your preferred URL when pages are duplicates or very similar. Google treats it as a strong signal, not a command. A canonical is a link element, not a meta tag.

What to do instead

Use this pre-publish check in place of a meta keywords SEO task:

1. Research the terms your customers use to describe the problem.
2. Write a page that answers the question directly, without repeating every query variation.
3. Check the title and description against what the page actually says.
4. Confirm the page’s noindex setting and canonical URL before publishing.

If you use Evatype to research and write, then publish on your schedule once you approve, keep these checks in your publishing review. Spend your time on the page your customers will read, not a keywords field Google ignores.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Does Google use meta keywords?

No. Google says the keywords meta tag has no effect on indexing or ranking in Google Search.

Should I remove existing meta keywords?

You do not need a sitewide cleanup for Google rankings because Google already ignores the tag. Check whether another system reads the field before removing it.

Do meta keywords help SEO on other search engines?

Do not assume every search engine handles the tag like Google. Yandex says its keywords tag can influence relevance to search queries.