How to add Meta Keywords in WordPress without plugins FREE (Updated)

How to add Meta Keywords in WordPress without plugins FREE? How to add meta tag meta description and meta keywords in WordPress without plugins in very simple and easiest ways which is freely.

Meta tags are one of the most important things in SEO. Having and setting it in the right content following SEO ideas will help you to have a better ranking on search result pages (SERPs). Today, we would like to share with you some information about meta tags and know “How to add meta tags to WordPress website without plugins”.

One of the most important steps in SEO is optimizing keywords. When a person looks for something in the search engine, s/he is most likely to use keywords. We already know, “GOOGLE uses a list of algorithms to sort billions of webpages and websites to find & display the relevant, better results to the users.” The web pages which contain similar keywords used in the search query are the most basic signal of relevance. That’s why Google looks for the keywords in the URL, title, headings, image alt text, meta description, and body of the text. Because this is only the factor Google system uses for ranking. That means, adding keywords to your website is one of the important steps to making your website articles and blogs SEO friendly.

A website that cannot be found is as good as having none at all. This is simple logic. Now, if you have been using the internet a lot or have been working with or on a website, then you should probably be familiar with these three terms  – “Meta Keyword”, “Meta Description”, and “SEO”.

But what are they? 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a technique used to make websites more visible on search engines by optimizing the keywords, images, and content, auditing the website, and building backlinks. 

Now, if you are someone who is or wants to be involved with the content writing/ creation of a website, then there are two terms that you must know, and those are “Meta Keywords” and “Meta Descriptions.”

“GOOGLE use a list of algorithms to sort billions of webpages to find & display the relevant results to the users.”

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This article is very helpful for visitors who are wandering around “how to add keywords in your WordPress website FREE without any plugins”.

What are Keywords?

Keywords are any words or sentences which is essential for your articles and blogs to show your connection while people query your specific keywords. In terms of search engines, it is a search term that is typed on Google or any search engine where websites and webpages are listed.

Keywords are used by a website owner or SEO professional to optimize a website that is hoping to rank at the top of search engines for specific keywords. Any search engines use their own standard algorithm to determine which pages rank at the top. The modern search engine uses similar keyword values but maintains that keywords relevance varies. Though it is also a better idea to track the keywords which are on your website.

Here is given very simple guide to follow:

The meta title is the title of any web page or post that Google or any search engines show in search results.

An example of a meta title is:

If a person found the meta title is exactly what they are looking about, they just click on that title and visit your webpage or website. That is why the meta title should be eye-catchy and enticing to the people to get many clicks.

You can see the meta title of any page like the given example:

Meta Description

A meta description is a lot simpler than Meta Keywords. They are simply the short description of your content that people see on search engines. Although Meta Descriptions do not technically affect SEO, it is still an essential aspect since they affect the CTR (click-through rate) by letting the visitors know what the web page is about. 

Meta Description is vital to compel people to visit your website. Although this serves a minor function in SEO, the SEO bots, aka web crawlers, will still scan for it and prioritize those with a meta description. However, the effect this plays is minor.

Rather than this, the primary function of Meta Description is to tell your visitors what the page is about before they enter your website and build their trust in it. This can contribute to a decent CTR, which IS an essential metric in the overall SEO of your website.

Your Loyal visitors and many people will still click on your website if it ranks high enough, but many people won’t trust it if your website fails to describe what it is all about. This is an essential aspect of SEO since Meta Keywords connect web searches to your website, webpage, and web content. 

This is the description or short summary that is given to give little information about any web page or post that Google or any search engines show in search results. It is no longer important in terms of Google; however, it is essential for users.

An example of meta description is:

<meta name= “description” content= “This is the meta description of a web page or post.” />

You can see the meta description something like the given example:

Meta Keywords are a type of Meta Tag in an HTML code that tells the search engine what the content is about. 

In layman’s terms, it is the focus word of the entire web page or content. Although Meta Keywords are essentially the same as common keywords, they do differ in one way; they appear on the source code of the web page rather than on the visible page. 

Why is it important?

The simple reason for this is; that the proper use of Meta Keywords will increase your website’s SEO viability and search engine ranking. If you use Meta Keywords properly, then the chances of your website appearing on the front page of searches increases, increasing the number of visitors you get.

This is an essential aspect of SEO since Meta Keywords connect web searches to your website, webpage, and web content. 

This is a search term that is typed on Google or any search engine where websites and web pages are listed. Most blogger owners or SEO professional uses meta keywords on the meta description so that it gives some benefits for On-Page-SEO.

You can see meta keywords something like this:

HTML meta tags author describe the metadata of the HTML page where it contains page description, author of the page, and keywords.

<head>

<meta charset="UTF-8">

<meta name="author" content="Digitalmarketing">

<meta name="keywords" content="Mainframe,Php,SQL,Perl,JQuery,Datascience">
<meta name ="revised" content ="Digitalmarketing, 1/6/2018" >

<meta http-equiv ="refresh" content ="10" >

</head>

How to add a meta tag to WordPress?

You now know what Meta keywords and Meta Descriptions are. However, do you know how to add them?

Although different website hosts and their custom systems have their ways, we will be talking about how to add them to websites hosted/ developed by WordPress since it is one of the simplest ways to create a website. You can even make one for yourself, even if you have no idea about programming. 

If you are scared of spending money on something you have no idea about, you can create a free subdomain and try it out. Regardless of which method you use, you can add Meta Keywords and Meta Descriptions in WordPress.

As for how to add them – through coding and plugins, let’s talk about the hard one first. 

How to add keywords in WordPress without plugins?

Although this is a valid method, it will only be worth the effort if you have a custom website on WordPress that requires a lot of plugins. The more plugins you add to your website, the slower it will load. 

So if you have such a website, then adding meta keywords and meta descriptions without plugins is your way to go. However, if you have a relatively simple website, you are better off with a plugin since it is easier and quicker. 

To add the Meta Keywords and Meta Descriptions without plugins, you will need a decent knowledge of programming and web development. Once this requirement is met, you can follow the process below. 

For Meta Descriptions

• Step 1: Go to the folder named wp-content/themes. 
• Step 2: Search for the theme that is currently in use
• Step 3: Locate the file named functions.php
• Step 4: Add the mentioned code to your functions.php file

For Meta Keywords:

In order to add Meta Keywords to your WordPress without Plugins, the initial three steps are the same as those in Meta Description. The only difference is in the codes you add. The codes to add in Meta Keywords are:

Here goes

• First login to your WordPress dashboard, and go to Theme Editor inside the Appearance.
• Click on header.php file, add this following search engine snippet code inside <head> tag.

<meta name= “description” content= “your description here” />

For keywords,

<meta name= “keywords” content= “your keywords here” />

For example;

Now, chance the content tag with the keywords and descriptions of what you want to make.

However, we recommend using the plugin, because SEO is supported by a dedicated plugin. The excellent SEO plugins are Yoast’s WordPress SEO and Rank Math SEO.

The code for meta description and keywords is given below: you can just copy and paste it into your function.php file.

function add_meta_tags() { 
global $post;
if ( is_single() ) {
$meta = strip_tags( $post->post_content ); 
$meta = strip_shortcodes( $post->post_content ); 
$meta = str_replace( array("\n", "\r", "\t"), ' ', $meta ); 
$meta = substr( $meta, 0, 160 ); 
$keywords = get_the_category( $post->ID ); 
$metakeywords = ''; 
foreach ( $keywords as $keyword ) { 
$metakeywords .= $keyword->cat_name . ", "; 
} 
echo ' 
<meta name="description" content="' . $meta . '" />' . "\n"; 
echo ' 
<meta name="keywords" content="' . $metakeywords . '" />' . "\n"; 
} 
} 
add_action( 'wp_head', 'add_meta_tags' , 2 );

Once you pasted this given code, you’re done. Now, it automatically fetches the starting 160 characters from the first paragraph of any post or page and shows it as a description. Also, fetches the post and pages to show as meta keywords.

Adding in Meta Keywords and Meta Description with a Plugin 

Adding in Meta keywords and Meta Description in WordPress is extremely easy. All you need to do is install the plugin and find the location to insert them. Although there are a lot of plugins, Yoast is considered the best by many WordPress users. Along with this, RankMath is also quite popular among new users of WordPress. 

Although there are other plugins for better SEO, they are the best for our context of adding in Meta Description and Meta Keywords. 

1. Using Yoast SEO

Before adding descriptions and keywords, you first need to install Yoast SEO. To do this, you need to:

• Step 1: Search for the plugin in the text box 
• Step 2: Install the Yoast SEO
• Step 3: Click on the SEO tool on the left admin panel and click on the button with a “Y”
• Step 4: Click the “Titles & Metas” link directly under the Dashboard option.
• Step 5:Click the “Other” tab on the top right.
• Step 6:Click to enable “Use meta keywords tag?” and then “Save changes.” 
• Step 7: Go into the Features tab and set “Keyword analysis” to enable. Step 8: Click the “Save changes” button on the bottom again.

Once you finish configuring the Yoast SEO, you can create content on your WordPress and add in the Meta Keyword. To do this, you will need to:

• Step 1: Click on Create a Post 

OR

• Click on an existing post
• Step 2: Go to the bottom of the page. You will see a new panel
• Step 3: Click on the “SEO” 
• Step 4: Add your meta keyword on the space below the “focus keyphrase” section. 

Note* you can only have one keyword on the free version of the Yoast SEO. If you want to have more than one meta keyword, you will need to purchase the premium version.

Click on the “add related keyphrase” section to add multiple keywords if you have the premium version of Yoast.

If you want to add in Meta Description to your content on Yoast, then you will need to:

• Step 1: Go to the bottom of the page. You will see a new panel
• Step 2: Click on the “SEO” 
• Step 3: Add your meta description below the “meta description” section.

Note* you will see a small bar below the meta description section filled with each character you type. The bar’s color slowly changes from red to orange and finally to green. If you are still writing meta descriptions even after the bar is filled, the color returns to yellow. 

This bar represents the optimum length of Meta Description to be SEO friendly. Red represents inadequate length; green is for the perfect length, while orange represents the “barely adequate” or “more than necessary” length of your Meta Description.

2. Using RankMath

Although this plugin is not as popular as Yoast, it is still a viable alternative. Furthermore, it has a few features in the free version that you will need to pay for in Yoast. 

To use RankMath, you will just need to install it from the Plugin section from the dashboard menu. 

After this, you will need to:

• Step 1: Add new content or open existing content
• Step 2: Click on the Rank Math icon at the top right corner in the WordPress menu.
• Step 3: Go to “General” and click on “edit snippet”
• You will see the fields to add title, permalink, and description
• Step 4: Replace the placeholder text with your meta description/.

If you want to add the keywords to your content in Rank Math, then you will need to:

• Step 1: Click on the Rank Math icon at the top right corner in the WordPress menu.
• Step 2: Go to the Focus Keyword section
• Step 3: Add in your keywords

Note* You can add up to 5 keywords here. Use comma “to separate the keywords. 

The Conclusion 

Meta Keywords and Meta Descriptions are essential aspects of your website and webpage. One is for letting the SEO bots know the context of your content, while another one is for the people. Although both of them have different roles, their ultimate goal is the same – to make your website visible on the search rankings and attract more visitors to your website.

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About Author

Ruby is an IT Engineer | Blogger | Digital marketer who offers Copywriting, ghostwriting, and blogging services to provide digital marketing content that gains social media attention and increases search engine visibility.

Ruby Saud View all post from the Author