Feature selection (FS) is a crucial step in machine learning and data mining projects. It aims to remove redundant and uncorrelated features, thus improving the accuracy of models. However, it can be challenging to select the optimal features, especially for datasets with many features. This paper proposes the Binary Meerkat Optimization Algorithm (BMOA) to address the issue of FS. The BMOA selects the most related and useful features. Additionally, an improved BMOA (IBMOA) is introduced, which enhances exploration and exploitation capabilities by incorporating the Periodic Mode Boundary Handling (PMBH) strategy and the Local Search (LS) process. This helps to reduce dimensionality and enhance classification accuracy. To evaluate the significance of selected features, two widely used classifiers, namely -nearest Neighbor ( -NN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM), were used as quality raters. The proposed IBMOA and the original BMOA were compared on 21 multi-scale and multi-faceted benchmark datasets. The binary structures of eight contemporary algorithms, including Binary Artificial Bee Colony (BABC), Binary Grey Wolf Optimization (BGWO), Binary Sailfish Optimizer (BSFO), Binary Particle Swarm Optimizer (BPSO), Binary Bird Swarm Algorithm (BBSA), Binary Whale Optimization Algorithm (BWOA), Binary Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm (BGOA), and Binary Bat Algorithm (BBA), were also analyzed and compared. The proposed IBMOA algorithm outperforms competitors on small and large datasets, obtaining optimal solutions within a reasonable timeframe. This is true for the proposed IBMOA, which has been statistically proven to be highly competitive using the Wilcoxon rank sum test (with alpha=0.05).