A study of metadata element co-occurrence

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the internet web page metadata usage behavior in terms of their metadata element co-occurrences. Metadata are designed to facilitate both web publishers/authors to organize their web pages and search engines to index the web pages accurately. Design/methodology/approach – This study examines the types of metadata elements employed by different professional groups of web authors, the number of elements they prefer to use, and the types of element combinations they typically embed in their pages’ HTML code. Findings – The findings reveal that the “keyword” and “description” elements were the most popular single elements. The most popular combination of two elements was that of “keyword and description”. Very few authors included combinations of five elements. This study also shows that preferences for element combinations varied by domains. Originality/value – This approach will enhance the current understanding of metadata usage behavior and may help search engine designers as they continue their quest for improved indexing and retrieval of web pages.