Step by step SEO: Chapter 2

How to Identify Keywords



If you find that there are no META keywords in the site, the chances are that the site is using a server technique designed to hide keywords (such as server side includes), such server scripts submit alternate pages when a specific search engine looks for the page. These stealth CGI scripts were designed to offer content to the search engine that is exceptionally keyword loaded in an attempt to bias the spider into a higher ranking position, or both. "Some people submit pages that present our spider with content that differs from what browsers will see. We strongly discourage the use of these techniques." - AltaVista Spamming Restrictions



Or perhaps the site author indexed then subsequently uploaded a keyword-less page to keep you from figuring out how to beat them with their own keywords. I do not recommend that you try this on your site because, in most cases, anybody can resubmit your URL, thus your site will drop from the search ranking results. As a housekeeping matter, the search engine will eventually revisit and reload registered sites without owner knowledge in order to purge deleted pages or to address spamming, so these sites will eventually vanish anyhow. Hint: the META tag "keywords" may work for some search engines (like Yahoo!) while Google and many others emphasize content and titles. As a result, it is important to have the most common words also appear at the top and throughout your site if it can be done without hurting the appeal of the site. If the search is for "search engine advice", put that string in the title, keywords, and top-of-page content.