I get asked about meta tags all the time. I always stated that meta tags had so little significance that it’s not worth spending time on them. But each time I optimised a website I felt a little bit guilty because I hadn’t spent more time on them. At last, I can feel guilt free!

Google has officially stated that meta-tags have no impact on the ranking of a website.

So, from now on, all the emphasis on meta-tags can be focused on the bit of text that appears in the search result sometimes - the first 140 characters from the meta-description tag. I recommend making that something enticing - something that will encourage visitors to click through to your website.