Metadata provides the descriptive tags, e.g., author, title, subject, and keywords, that act as reference points for search engines. Good meta descriptions are written expressly so that search engines will rate the page highly for search strings that one wants to associate with them.

1. Facilitating Document Access
with Meta Tags
Olivier Serrat
2013
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2. Titles
The keywords in
title tags are a
powerful means
with which to
highlight a page's
most important
search terms.
The most important keywords should
be placed at the beginning of a title
tag:
• Lead with the most important words
and phrases for a particular page.
• Move from the specific to the more
general.
• Refrain from using any word more
than twice in the title tag.
Example: ADBI Pocket Guide to Asian Economic Think Tanks. This
title's "meta" was changed to Asian Economic Think Tanks: ADBI
Pocket Guide.

3. Meta Descriptions
Good meta descriptions are written expressly so that search
engines will rate the page highly for search strings we want to
associate them with.
Meta descriptions appear in search engine results pages.
Abide by the hallmarks of good meta descriptions:
• The title of the document should not be repeated
• Important words should make up the first 10–12 words.
• The mort important words should come first.
• Geographical context should be added.

4. The Hallmarks of Good Meta
Description
The title of
the document
should not be
repeated.
• Do not waste your meta tags.
• Search engines review title "tags"
automatically.
Important
words should
make up the
first 10–12
words.
• Search engines will place more weight on
the first words when determining
relevance.
• Important words should be moved to the
beginning.
• The first words are "prime real estate".

5. The Hallmarks of Good Meta
Description
The most
important
words should
come first.
• Even with the 12-word cut-off, search
engines tend to ascribe more
importance to words that appear earlier.
• Prioritize the words in your description.
Geographical
context should
be added.
• Websites compete with one another on
the Internet.
• Users tend to search for content within
specific geographical locations.
• Target users who wish to find content
about a region.
• Put words in meta descriptions that
provide geographical context.

6. Examples of Meta Description
Bad: This document is a discussion paper and is part of a cross-
country study on corporate governance; it focuses on corporate
governance in the Republic of Korea.
Reason: The description places too many vague and unimportant
words up front. Key words such as "corporate governance" and
"Korea" are introduced after the 15th word.
Good: This is a paper on corporate governance in Korea, and is
part of a regional study in corporate governance.
Reason: The important words occur within the first 15 words.
Best: Corporate governance study in Korea; part of an Asia-
Pacific study of corporate governance.
Reason: The first words are the most important and the
geographical context is more precise.

7. Keywords
Keywords can make or break your website (or blog): Most of the
traffic that websites receive come from search engines: keywords
are the currency of search engines.
Keywords function in the same way as meta descriptions. But,
there are a few important differences:
• Keywords are made up of separate phrases, separated by
commas.
• Keywords do not need to be grammatically correct.
• Key words are tallied directly against the search words or
strings that users type into search engines.
Good keywords require that you put yourself in the "user's
shoes".

8. The Hallmarks of Good Keywords
Use the
longest
version of
words.
• Search engines are smart enough to find
words such as "govern" within
"governance" or "governing".
• To have the largest number of words that
each keyword will encompass, always
choose the longest version.
Use all lower
case.
• Whether words are proper nouns or not,
all keywords must be in lower case.
• Lower case keywords will be identified
with strings that are capitalized.
• However, capitalized keywords may not
necessarily be identified with search
strings that are in lower case.

9. The Hallmarks of Good Keywords
Use clusters of
3-4 words,
with each
cluster
separated by
comma.
• Users today tend to type 3-4 words into
search engines.
• List the most important keywords first.
• Do not use single words (e.g. china,
poverty, finance, etc.) as they will not
facilitate access to your document.
• Do not use more than 3 clusters/12
words.
Add
geographical
context.
• Try to make the geographical indicator
the first keyword.

10. Examples of Good Keyword
Selection
Document: ADB Planning
Road Network Expansion in
Bhutan
Bad: This document offers
no keywords.
Possible Keywords: Bhutan, Road Network Expansion,
technical assistance, loan, transportation, Japan Special
Fund, grant, agricultural markets, ADB Planning Road
Network Expansion in Bhutan, news and events
Good Keywords: bhutanese highways projects, bhutanese roads
developments infrastructures, bhutanese roads networks

11. Incorporating Keywords in PDF
Files
Incorporate the
information in
the fields.
Click File>
Document
Properties >
Description.
Open the pdf
file.

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