The meta keywords tag is an HTML meta element where site owners listed the keywords a page targeted. Early search engines used it, but it was so easy to abuse that it lost its value. Google stated in 2009 that it does not use the keywords meta tag in web search ranking. Today it does nothing for Google and gives competitors an easy list of your target terms.
What it looks like
The tag sits in the page head. Some CMSs and old SEO plugins still add a field for it.
<meta name="keywords" content="crm, sales crm, crm software, best crm" />Why it stopped mattering
Because the tag was invisible to visitors, it was easy to stuff with irrelevant or excessive terms. Search engines moved to analyzing the visible content of pages instead. Google's list of meta tags it supports, in its Search Central documentation, does not include keywords.
Should you remove it?
There is no urgency, but removing it is tidy and stops revealing your keyword targeting to anyone who views the source. Stop maintaining it in your CMS and drop it from templates during the next cleanup. Some internal site search tools read the tag; check before removing it if you use one.
Where keyword targeting belongs instead
The signals that tell search engines what a page covers are visible: the title tag, the main heading, the opening paragraph, subheadings, body copy, image alt text and the anchor text of links pointing to the page. Keyword mapping, deciding which page targets which query, is still valuable, but it belongs in a planning document, not in a hidden tag.
Example
A template cleanup
Hypothetical support platform Fernwharf found its CMS still asked editors to fill a "Meta keywords" field on every page. The team removed the field and the tag, and used the editorial time on title tags and meta descriptions instead.
Common mistakes
Spending time on it
Any effort spent filling keyword tags is better spent on titles, headings and content.
Questions
Google does not use it for ranking. Other engines' current handling is not well documented, and it is not considered worth maintaining.
