How To Add WordPress Meta Tags Without Plugin in 2023

 Do you want to learn how to add WordPress meta tags without a plugin, like the millions of other website owners who do?

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“META TAGS” – A SEO feature that CHANGES THE GAME!

“Meta Tags” are something that can help if you’re attempting to raise your SERP ranking!

Yes, it indicates increased traffic, sales, and profits.

Do you currently use meta tags on your website? Want to add WordPress meta tags without using a plugin?

We’ll break down this process into fairly simple steps in this technical guide. We’ll also point out a few of the most significant advantages of using meta tags!

Let’s first discuss what meta tags are and why they are important before moving on.

What are Meta Tags?

The HTML tag section known as meta tags contains important information about a web page.

They provide a summary of the page’s content and aid search engine crawlers in understanding the subject matter of a website or web page.

Additionally, meta tags are hidden and only visible in the HTML code of the page, inside the head> element. Simply clicking anywhere on the website will display it. Click the source code option in the context menu.

Is this becoming too technical?

Ok! I’ll make it easy for you, please!

The coding fragments known as meta tags give search engines crucial details about your website.

All search engine crawlers’ first impact and point of contact are meta tags.

Why are the meta tags necessary?

Meta tags can affect how users perceive your website in the search results and whether they click through to your site or not, claims John Mueller, a webmaster trends analyst at Google.

Once again, the BASE of SEO is Meta Tags! They must be established first when creating a web page.

It produces miraculous results in terms of raising the ranking of your website in SERP results when combined with the on-page SEO procedure.

The navigation and viewing of your entire digital image are controlled by these tags. Let’s quickly review how meta tags assist:

1. Better For SEO

Meta tag optimisation is good for a website’s search engine optimisation. Meta tag optimisation is advised by many expert bloggers and SEO practitioners as it is essential for on-page SEO.  You can read more about the significance of meta tags for SEO.

Meta tags, like the meta title, description, headers, and alt attributes, give your content a suitable structure. If you don’t use meta tags, your content will be disorganised, which will harm your SEO.

As a result, all pages and posts on a WordPress website should have meta descriptions.

2. Helps Search Engines Index Pages Easily

The proper use of meta tags is comparable to using a professional email’s proper format.

Utilising meta tags in the header area of pages will make it simpler for search engines to crawl and comprehend the content of the webpage.

As a result, Google will index the pages faster the more effectively the search engine crawler retrieves the content.

3. Helps In Better Ranking

If you use meta tags properly, they raise your ranking.

Your website page ranks higher in SERPs when the targeted keywords are added to the meta title and description.

In order to determine whether the theme a user is searching for is relevant, Google or any other search engine crawler reads through the title and description.

In order to help readers find the most pertinent results, search engines promote content when they discover relevant keywords in the meta tags.

4. Improves Website Visibility

Meta tags are short pieces of code that give search engines vital details about your website.

Additionally, they aid in determining the number of people who are likely to click through to your website, which affects traffic and engagement rates.


Additionally, it instructs web browsers on how to display the content to users.

I believe this is sufficient to convey the significance of meta tags to you. It’s time to become familiar with the various components of meta tags.

Additionally, if you comprehend the significance and function of each tag, you can add meta tags without the plugin with ease.

There are typically 8 components to meta tags:


1. Title Tag


2. Meta Description

3. Meta Keywords

4. Heading (Header) Tag

5. Image Alt Attribute

6. Robots Meta Tag

7. Canonical Tag

8. Schema Markup

Let’s go over each of these in turn:


1. Title Tag

The most important HTML element is the title tag. It provides search engines and browsers with information about your web page.

All browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, etc., are supported by the Title tag.

The site’s head> section must always contain the Title tag.

When creating a suitable title tag, keep the following in mind:



Long tail keywords make a difference! So, embed them in title tags.


Add “modifiers” to this tag (How to |Review | The current year | Best | Top |Tips |easy |Find | Buy).

Try to add numbers to your title tag (9 Important HTML tags for your website to improve your SEO)
Keywords are important but don’t stuff the keywords unnecessarily.

Start your title tag with your targeted keyword.

Keep the title tag unique for every page.

Try breaking up your title tag using a question, colon, or bracket and your agency name to enhance readability and brand recognition.

2. Meta Description

Your website’s meta description serves as a summary. In the search results, it is shown beneath the title tag.

Additionally, because it appears in the search results, the meta description has a big impact on how many people click on your page.

Google extended the length of search result snippets earlier this year. However, the meta description is now only 150–160 characters long, including spaces, and is still descriptive.

Important things to keep in mind when crafting an appropriate meta description tag:


While writing a meta description, don’t put much stress on the number of characters. If needed, Google might fetch Meta description text from your content depending on a user’s query.


Avoid duplicate Meta Descriptions.

Include your primary targeted keywords in the descriptions.

Embed clear Call-to-action (CTA) in your descriptions. Reach out to us, Apply today, Rely on us, Contact us today, Check-out, etc.

Encourage visitors to click by creating specific and relevant content in the meta description.

Include any discounts or special offers you’ve going on.

3. Meta Keywords

Search engine crawlers use meta keywords to help them display your page in search results. You can use keyword tags in the description; you’re not required to cram it with them.

Because it helps with on-page SEO, most SEO experts and bloggers advise including meta keywords in the description.

The meta description features bolded meta keywords.

Observations when creating a meta keyword tag:


Prepare a list of targeted keywords.


Use the keywords in the description.

Try to make the description more meaningful and relevant while placing the keyword.

Try to use long-tail keywords.

Place your most relevant keywords or phrases at the beginning of your list.

Avoid using duplicate keywords.

4. Heading (Header) Tags (H1-H6)

On your website, headings (H1) and subheadings (H2-H6) are identified using heading tags (HTML).

The title is tagged with H1, which is more important than other tags.

When heading tags are used correctly, the content architecture will be improved and the search engines will be able to read and understand the well-organized content rather than having to navigate around structural problems.

Observations to make when writing header tags:


Create a relevant description without stuffing the keyword in the tag.


Be clear and to the point.

Create informative filenames.

Develop an image sitemap.

Try to fit the text in 50-55 characters (up to 16 words) in the alt text.

Prefer a small file size for faster page loading speed (Just don’t compromise the image’s resolution)



6. Robot Meta Tags

The robot meta tag gives search engines instructions on whether or not to index the webpage.

For the search engine crawlers, this tag contains four essential components:


FOLLOW –This attribute instructs the search engine crawler to follow all the links on that webpage.


INDEX – This attribute tells the search engine crawler to index the entire webpage

NOFOLLOW – This instructs the search engine crawler NOT to follow the page and any links on that webpage.

NOINDEX – This attribute tells the search engine crawler NOT to index that webpage.



Additionally, these tags are beneficial because they give you precise control over how search engines interpret your website.

For example, you might have produced some pages that offer little value to users but are necessary for the website to have for some other reason. Let’s say you don’t want this content to be taken into account when determining the overall quality of your website. The nofollow attribute then spares Google bot resources for non-unique content.

Similar to this, you might want some particular pages to not appear in SERPs because they offer a special deal that is only supposed to be accessible through a direct link, like one from a newsletter. No index is very helpful in this situation because it won’t use up unnecessary Google resources.


Points to remember to create Robot meta tags

Close unfinished/ unnecessary pages with thin content, no intent, and little value to appear in the SERPs.

Close the pages that unreasonably waste search engine crawl budget.

Be careful while using these tags, so you don’t mistakenly restrict important pages from indexing.


7. rel= “canonical” Link Tag

The lines in red indicate that the specified URL should be treated as a replica on any webpage that contains this tag.

The technical answer to managing duplicate content is the rel=”canonical” link tag.

Search engines may become confused if there are several pages with nearly identical content covering the same subject or if the same page is available under several different URLs. It would therefore be beneficial if you let search engines know which URL you want to rank with.

The canonical tag can be used to accomplish this. When a URL contains the canonical element, search engines are told to display that URL in their results. You can direct your SEO efforts in that direction.

Tips for using the canonical link tag:


Use the canonical tag for pages with similar content on the same subject.


Implement canonical tags for duplicate pages available under multiple URLs.

If the two pages connected by a canonical tag vary too much in content, the search engine crawler will disregard the title.


8. Schema Markup

Each web page’s data is organised using a tag called schema markup. It aids search engines in comprehending your content and accurately displaying it in search results.

It’s crucial to have structured schema markup if you want to raise your SERP ranking. It aids search engines in interpreting the text on web pages and determining the significance of particular words.

You can gain a competitive edge, increase CTR (click-through rate), drive more traffic, and enhance organic search results affordably by implementing structured data markup from schema.org.

The user doesn’t even have to click through the results when using Schema Markup to find the response to their query. They will receive a rich snippet with an eye-catching image, a range of prices, business hours, stock information, a 5-star rating, or anything else that is useful. Furthermore, compared to a plain-text result, it is more likely to catch the user’s eye.


Use the schema markup carefully (use Structured Data Markup Helper if required).


Test the markup thoroughly to ensure it isn’t added improperly or misled.

Create a map of your most relevant pages and finalize the concepts relevant to each page.

I believe you now understand the various types of meta tags and their significance, so let’s move on to the quick instructions for adding meta tags to WordPress without the use of a plugin.


How to Add WordPress Meta Tags Without a Plugin?

Adding meta tags without the use of plugins again makes your WordPress website look cleaner.

I’ll describe how to add meta tags without using a plugin. However, before you begin, I advise creating a backup of your WordPress website so you can restore your website’s data in case something goes wrong.

Let’s examine the beginning of the process:


Step 1: Go To Appearance> Theme Editor

Logging into your Dashboard should be your first step. Navigate to the theme editor after appearance in the left pane.

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Step 2. Go to Theme Functions (header.php) File

The backend of the WordPress site’s activated theme will be visible on your screen as you click on Theme Editor.

Click the Theme Function (function.php) file that is displayed on the right pane under Theme Files, as shown in the image below. The theme file’s function PHP file will be displayed as a result.

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Add the meta tags to the theme function file at this point. To accomplish this, copy the code from the box below.

the add_meta_tags() function

worldwide $post;

when (is_single())

($post->post_content) = strip_tags;

$post->post_content = strip_shortcodes;

$meta = str_replace(array(“n,” “r,” “t”), “”, $meta);

Substituting with ($meta, 0, 160);

get_the_category($post->ID), $keywords

; $metakeywords

the keyword foreach ($keywords as $keyword)

. “, “; $metakeywords.= $keyword->cat_name;

}

echo ‘

‘. “n”; meta name=”description” content=”‘. $meta. ‘”

echo ‘

‘. “n”; “meta name=”keywords” content=”‘. $metakeywords. ‘”;

}

}

(‘wp_head’, ‘add_meta_tags’, 2)


Go to the bottom of the function.php file, where the HTML codes end, by scrolling down as shown in the image below.

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And now, as shown in the image below, it’s time to paste the meta tags code that was copied into the red-highlighted area.

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You’re finished when you’ve successfully pasted the copied code into the function.php file.

I’m done now! Congrats!


In addition, this code will automatically pull the first 160 characters from every page and post’s first paragraph and display them as a description.

Note: You will need to repeat the process and paste the code once more if you change the theme of your WordPress website.

Why Add WordPress Meta Tags Without a Plugin?

Why add meta tags without using plugins when we have a list of some of the most potent SEO plugins is the most frequent question that may cross your mind during the process.

Has this thought crossed your mind as well?

Ok! Let’s examine the benefits and significance of adding meta tags manually.


1. The foremost reason not to use a plugin is that it affects the site’s speed. It makes your WP website slow.


2. While adding meta tags manually, you can notice a slight improvement in your website’s performance.

3. Adding meta tags without a plugin helps you avoid unwanted scripts generated by SEO plugins.

Wrapping Up

You can start making your own meta tags now that you are aware of what they are, why they are important, and how to add them to WordPress without using a plugin.

Meta tags on your website also make it easier for search engine crawlers to search your metadata.

To make it simpler for search engine crawlers to find your content, keep in mind that your meta tags should be simple to read and comprehend. Finally, creating meta tags doesn’t require using several plugins. To ensure the success of your website, follow the above-mentioned steps.

How did you find this blog? That would be great to know. Share it with the blogging community and on social media if it is beneficial to others.

Finally, if you have any questions or suggestions about this blog, please share them in the comment section.

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