Meta Tags

Meta Tags is a tool to debug and generate meta tag code for any website. With Meta Tags, you can edit and experiment with your content and preview how your webpage will appear on Google, Facebook, Twitter, and more!

What are Meta Tags?

Meta tags are specific snippets of text and image content that provide a summary for a webpage. Often, meta tag data shows up when someone shares a link on social media, in messaging, or through your business chat software 🙌.

In addition, meta tags can contain information to help search engines and other technical services scan your site, determining what it’s about and whether it’s legitimate.

Wait, but why can’t I see meta data?
Since the protocol was originally created for machines to examine, it’s buried in code at the top of a website. This is exactly why this tool was created! Simply input any URL into the search box, and our site helps you visualize and edit the meta tag code so you can update it.

<title>Meta Tags — Preview, Edit and Generate</title>
<meta name="title" content="Meta Tags — Preview, Edit and Generate">
<meta name="description" content="With Meta Tags you can edit and experiment with your content then preview how your webpage will look on Google, Facebook, Twitter and more!">

Why Do Meta Tags Matter?

How valuable sharing on social media and ranking on Google are for your site determines how much you should focus on your meta tags.

Imagine walking into an abandoned store with dusty shelves and a musty smell in the air 😕. A link to your site on Facebook or LinkedIn is often the first interaction a visitor will have with your site. If it looks empty and unmaintained, like a barren store, they’ll never consider clicking the link.

As part of most digital marketing campaigns, teams often create compelling copy and striking images, which can easily become part of the meta data on your webpage. Double the value, half the work! This is especially important if you’re working on your site’s SEO strategy or enhancing the overall user experience.

SEO Title Tag

This image is also the meta data image!
Generating meta data is an essential exercise in refining your concise sales pitch. Google only allows you 60 characters for your title and around 105 characters for your description—perfect for honing your value proposition.

Do Meta Tags Help with SEO?

The SEO community is clear: the most important meta tag for ranking is your title tag. While no other meta tags directly affect SEO rankings, they still play a role!

• Title – Very Important
• Description – Less Important
• Image – Moderately Important
• Keyword – Negative Importance

Historically, the “keyword” meta tag was crucial for ranking, as early search engine robots used it to categorize websites. But in 2009, Google made it clear that the keyword meta tag is no longer a ranking factor and could even harm your ranking if abused 😱.

Modern SEO strategies focus on ranking highly in Google with quality content, complemented by meta tag tweaks. If you’re looking to dive deeper into SEO and understand SEO best practices, or if you’re refining your site’s SEO with tools like our Interactive SEO ROI Calculator, meta tags will be an essential part of your optimization process.

Once your site ranks, it’s essential to get people to click on it—this is where the meta image and meta description play an important role (read more below).

Title Tag

A title tag is the second most important factor for on-page SEO, just behind high-quality content.

In technical terms, it’s a simple HTML code tag <title>Title</title> placed at the top of your webpage. But those 50-60 characters are crucial, as they affect your website traffic in several ways:

• Google Search – The main link people click on.
• Social Sites – The title people see on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
• Browser Tab – Subliminal marketing that persists in a tab.
• External Links – Often the text other sites use to link to your site.

Tips for an Effective Title

Consider the trifecta: Brand, marketing, and SEO. Keep your title under 60 characters and place the keywords you’re targeting at the beginning. Don’t overdo it with keywords—stick to a maximum of two. For more tips on crafting perfect titles and improving your on-page SEO, check out Backlinko’s guide.

SEO Title Tag

Places where your title tag appears.

Meta Description

While meta descriptions don’t directly affect SEO, they’re extremely valuable for engaging users who will click through to your site.

The meta description often serves as a pitch to those who find your website on Google or social media. Though not required (and Google may pull text from your site instead), it’s better to control the description text where possible. For tips on creating compelling meta descriptions, you can refer to our guide to writing SEO-friendly descriptions.

Meta Image or OG:Image

With the visual nature of the web, your Meta Tag Image is one of the most valuable graphics to encourage users to click and visit your website.

Many digital marketing and SEO websites overlook the importance of graphic content since it requires design skills. But with free tools like Figma and Canva, anyone can create compelling imagery to add to their meta tags.

On sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, your meta image is three times larger than your text content!

Create Meta Tags for SEO and Digital Marketing

Since meta tag data can be overwhelming and time-consuming, you should focus on two key elements: title tag and meta image.

The primary reason for building this tool was to simplify the process, as iterating on titles and images (and descriptions) can be tedious!

WebbbForge.com was created to make this process enjoyable! Quickly testing different titles and images is now a fluid, seamless workflow.

For more resources on building a stunning online presence, check out our guide to building a website for your business.