Question : OSCommerce META tags

Hi,
Never having used OS Commerce before there seems to be a global META tags element within the package which when I view source shows this in the HEAD tag

Does this mean the META tags are not picked up by serach engines? As the only when viewing source the META keywords is there but empty, as is the Description...the only tag that I can actually view by viewing source is the TItle tag.

Answer : OSCommerce META tags

Search engines only pick up what's in the HTML. And the notation in HTML is just a comment, usually ignored by search engines.

So basically, no Meta data is being picked up by search engines. The title is picked up (which is hands down the most important element to a search engine) because you said the tag does show up along with whatever you named the page.<br /><br />The articles/links I gave you are add-ons so that you can customize meta tags that will show up to search engines. I tend to agree with jhoekman concerning the importance of meta tags. They're not the most crucial aspect of your SEO, but you should still give them some attention if/when possible.<br /><br />Short answer - if you don't see <meta type="whatever type" description="whatever description /> in the Source code, then Search Engines don't either.<br /><br />Short solution - use one of the links to install an add-in to OS Commerce to customize meta tags (better option, but more time) OR forget about it since meta tags aren't the MOST important element anyway (if you're really wanting the SEO factor, I'd go with option 1, but if you're swamped with other more important work, go with 2).</span></h5> </td> </tr> <tr><td height="5px"></td></tr> <tr><Td> <table id="ContentPlaceHolder1_pc2" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="margin-left:20px"> <tr> <td valign="top">  <div data-pw-desk="med_rect_btf" id="pwDeskMedRectBtf1"></div> <script type="text/javascript"> window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag("pwDeskMedRectBtf1"); }) </script> </td> <td width="20px"></td> <td valign="top">  <div data-pw-desk="med_rect_btf" id="pwDeskMedRectBtf2"></div> <script type="text/javascript"> window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag("pwDeskMedRectBtf2"); 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