Google does not use meta keywords or descriptions

In a move that has confirmed what many web designers have been suggesting for a while, Google has announced it has stopped using Meta Keywords and Meta Descriptions when ranking search results (Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking.)

Why has this happened?

There has been no official reason for this move, however, it is probably due to the abuse this system has received. Many sites cram keywords and descriptions with repeated words and phrases, some even copy information from other sites. In some cases the meta keywords and descriptions don't even reflect the information on the page, it is purely abused for SEO purposes rather than to describe what is actually on the site.

Should I stop using Meta Keywords and Descriptions?

In a word, No.

Although Google doesn't use the Meta tags when calculating search engine positions, in some cases it will use the Meta Description tag as the short summary you see when your site is listed on Google. Also, some of the other search engines still use Meta Keywords and Meta Descriptions such as Yahoo and Ask (although they do give them very little weighting).

Conclusion

It is our view that you should still have the Meta Keywords and Meta Description tags on your website, even if it is just for the top level pages.

We would however recommend spending less time on Meta tags than before and focusing more time on the things that search engines give more weighting to e.g. page titles, heading tags (H1, H2, H3 etc.), image alt tags, seo friendly urls and more importantly unique keyword rich content.