Revisiting the Meta-Description - Good vs Bad

By Howard C. Gray
We've been helping a client with SEO and feeling a bit overwhelmed, they took a shortcut to their optimization.  They used page descriptions and copied and dropped them directly into the meta-descriptions. This “shortcut” is ill advised and does little to assist in  SEO/Search results page click-throughs.

Why is this?

• It’s wasting an opportunity to create a brief, powerful call-to-action statement that summarizes the page content in an easy to scan, easy to digest manner for the searcher on the search results page.
• Google prefers the Meta-description to be different than page content. To quote Google’s Webmaster Guidelines: ”...meta descriptions aren’t displayed in the pages the user sees…” Because of this, we believe the reverse is true.
• Since the meta-description is cut off at 165 characters, keyword opportunities that are buried further in the content are lost. The closer the all-important keyword is to the front of the HTML title and in the meta-description and on the page, the more likely the search engine will determine that keyword represents what the page is about. After all, they’re the first words it sees. And they’re the first words a searcher/visitor sees; clarifying to them they should click that link or are on the right page. It matches their query.
• If the page description is dropped into the meta-description, the search engine may look at the duplication of content on the front and back of the page and the following could occur:
  1. Trip a duplication of content filter
  2. Trip a spam filter

Neither of which is good…

What are filters?
Filters were created by search engines in the late 90’s and refined in the early oughts to weed out “black hat” SEO techniques Internet marketers were using to cheat high rankings. From Google’s Webmaster Guidelines: Filters are “scalable algorithms that recognize and block future spam attempts.” Once a filter is tripped the page is usually dropped from the index.

What is spam in reference to SEO?
Spam refers to packing meta-data, titles, and descriptions with one keyword or keyword phrase. This is why Google developed the “relevancy” factor. They have the best “relevancy” search engine in the world. Google is able to recognize, for example: kid, child, youth, children, toddler, etc as all meaning the same and are related. To quote Google again: ”...meta descriptions (and HTML titles) comprised of long strings of keywords don’t give users a clear idea of the page’s content, and are less likely to be displayed…”

This is why using variations of related words works so well with Google. And it makes for a more pleasant shopping experience. The copy reads better and creates mental “associations” for the visitor. Google wants to rank pages higher that give the searcher a good experience…so they’ll come back and use Google again. Obviously reading a statement in the search results that repeats a keyword over and over and over not only looks ridiculous, it looks desperate. 

Here’s a quick review of Meta-data best practices:

• Use short sentences. Get the point across. 
• Use benefit statements and words that speak to the shopper. Action verbs!
• Use related or relevant words in the titles and snippets. (Ex: kitty, cat, pet)
• Use variations of keywords (tri-fold, trifold)
• Use titles as “headlines.” A good headline in a newspaper makes you want to read it. Think about creating HTML titles as page “headlines.” Don’t just copy the display title. That’s a default feature in our software already, and we’re trying to avoid that.
• Avoid the “we, we” factor. We have this. We have that. Searchers don’t care. They want to know “what’s in it FOR ME?” What is the benefit I get from clicking on this link? Speak to them as a person. Ask them a question or offer a solution. Ex: “Your kid’s room a mess? You’ll be delighted with the wide selection of easy to stack toy storage boxes.”
• Include descriptive copy in the Alt tags of all images. Add a keyword or 2. Those who have disabilities such as poor vision will appreciate it. It also improves your ranking in Google Images.

Here’s perhaps one of the most important things to consider in regards to rankings. Since Google wants to serve a pleasant shopping/search experience, they reward sites that get clicked on from the results pages with better rankings over time. It’s speculated that they use data like time on site and bounce rates to rank pages. Why not? It’s another angle that serves the shopper with a more pleasant experience. Data is math and search engine’s are math based.

Clearly, it’s worth the time and effort to prioritize, and sit down and continue creating unique, benefit oriented, keyword related titles and meta-descriptions that aren’t filled with nonsense and spam. And the sooner this is done, the sooner Google will rank these pages. And if these pages look enticing from the results page, searchers will chose to click on you. To quote Google’s Webmaster Guidelines: ”...high-quality (meta)descriptions…can go a long way to improving the quality and quantity of your search traffic.”

For more information on creating good meta-descriptions, refer to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines at: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35264&ctx=sibling

For more information on creating good HTML titles and Alt tags, refer to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines at: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=70928&ctx=sibling