Yahoo Search NewsFor the longest time my main work website Wellwrittenwords was #2 on Yahoo for the term ‘SEO Copywriter’. And for a long time before that I was on the first page, although my placement wavered between 4 and 6.

Then a couple of SEO celebrities (who shall remain nameless) told me that including the keywords meta tag was pointless as none of the search engines use it any more, and it just gives your competition information about what you’re trying to rank for.

Being the trusting soul that I am, I removed my keywords meta tag.

I disappeared on Yahoo altogether. I mean I was buried. I couldn’t even find myself in a search. It never even occurred to me that it was the keywords tag. Alright, I know, that was really stupid.

Anyway, finally it dawned on me so I rushed in there and put back the keywords meta tag. It took three or four days, but I gradually began to see my site climbing in Yahoo again, and even my worsening situation on Google improved. I’m now back on page 2 at #12 on Yahoo, I’m happy to report (see below). Of course you don’t have to take my word for it. If you have the keywords meta tag installed, take it out and see what happens. If you don’t, put it in and see what happens.

My experience brings up another issue apart from the intricacies of ranking on Yahoo. It’s that of whether some experts make honest mistakes, or whether some of them lead others astray deliberately, which I’ve heard being bandied about. What do you think? What’s your experience with the keywords meta tag? Do tell us!

Wellwrittenwords back on Yahoo