Metadata
The process of adding metadata is slightly different depending on whether you're using Dreamweaver or the Web CMS. We've put together guides to help you do it in both:
What is metadata?
Simply put, metadata is "data about data". In terms of a webpage, the metadata could include the title of the page, the date it was created, a short description of the content, or many other attributes.
Why should I add metadata to my pages?
The most practical use of metadata is that it can make your pages easier to find from search engines, and more likely to be visited.
If the words used by people when searching aren't contained within your pages (either in the actual content or the metadata), your pages probably won't appear in the search results.
Also, the way your page is displayed in search results depends on the title you have given your page, and possibly also any description you have given (this depends on the search engine used, and the type of search being performed).
Pages with good metadata are much more likely to be clicked on than ones with poor metadata. For example:
Page with good metadata:
Page with poor metadata (no title or description):
When a person adds your page to their bookmarks / favourites, and when viewing their browsing history, the title that you have given the page is used there too.
What metadata should I include?
Although there are hundreds of different types of information that can be included as metadata, the most important three are title, description and keywords.
Title
The title should be a very concise description of your page, that clearly identifies it.
Poor title choices:
- Giving the same title to all of your pages – eg giving all of your pages the title "The University of York"
- Giving no title – it will appear in search results as "Untitled document"
- Leaving the default title – eg "New document"
Description
The description field should contain a short (maximum 200 words) overview of the content of your page.
For example, on a page about applying to study in the mathematics department, the description could be:
"Information about studying mathematics at York, including who to contact and details of open days"
Keywords
The keywords field should contain the words that people may enter into search engines when looking for your content, but aren't in the actual content of the page itself. This will include:
- Official and unofficial names - something may have an official name but students may call it something else. E.g. York calls its degrees 'programmes', but students call them 'courses'.
- Former names - the name may have changed but the old name may still be in common usage.
- Regional names – even in different parts of the UK things have different names.
Most public search engines now ignore keywords, as they have been used excessively in the past by spammers. However, our own internal search engine does make use of them, so they are still useful to include.
Sample metadata