What Is Metadata
What is metadata? Metadata is hidden information that you add to a website page to instruct search engines how to categorize your page. Metadata is also the descriptive information you add when you upload a YouTube video. In this case, the video's description and tags are considered metadata.
Meta descriptions tell search engines what a page is about. To find the metadescription on a website page, you need to view the page's source code. Each browser offers a different way to view the page's source code. Look in the <head> section near the top of the source code for the words "meta description." If it exists, you will see a description of the content of the page. Sometimes the metadescription is what search engines display to users in search results.
Meta keyword tags exemplify another form of metadata for website pages. They are composed of a list of keywords that are related to the webpage. You will find the meta keywords in the same section as the meta description in the source code.
While search engines find meta description tags useful, some of them often ignore the meta keywords. This is because of a long history of web spam. In the old days, spammers used to load their meta keyword tags with unrelated words to help them get more search visits. This tag is quickly becoming obsolete.
Video hosting websites show the metadata for videos for all to see. This is because the metadata can be very valuable for a user of a video site, including the keywords. Good metadata let's the video watcher decide whether the video is worth viewing. It also helps the user find the search results that they are looking for.
Another example of metadata is the information you find when right clicking on computer files and choosing "properties." You may see the title of the MP3 you are inspecting as well as the author, copyright notice and other information. Some MP3 players will display the metadata when you play the files.
