Metadata & Meta-Tags
Meta is a prefix derived from the Greek word, μετά, which means after or beyond. It is used to add additional meaning or value to the concept it describes. Metadata is thus data about data. In computer terminology, metadata provides information about other data, such as, for example, name, size and type, but could include information on usage patterns, frequency, sources, etc.
In Marketing 2.0 terminology, metadata or meta-tags are the elements on a web-page which are sometimes used by search engines to assess Page Rank. Our online marketing world uses a number of terms with the prefix Meta:
- Meta-Description Tags, not used by some search engines, define the way the page should be listed by search engines.
- Meta-Keywords Tags, not used by some search engines, define additional text on a page to assist the search engine’s PR process.
- Meta-Tags, inserted into web pages, are not visible to visitors and feed information to Web-crawlers and other applications.
- Meta-Search engines derive their listings from other search engines, as opposed to their own web-crawlers.
