Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Does keyword at the very front of meta description have impact?
-
I know that it is important to have your primary keyword target as the first word or two words of your title tag. But what about your meta description tag? does it matter where they keyword is in the description tag? I see a lot of other sites stuffing their keywords right at the front of the description tag and it looks somewhat unnatural. What's your take? do you put the primary keyword as the first word or two words of your description tag?
-
I did a lot of research on this topic for you Storwell. I read articles from Bing, Duanne Forrester, Q&As on Bing Webmaster's area and checked a few other sources as well. There are several non-credible sources that discuss the topic so be careful if you go searching online for the answer. There is even an article on Sphinn which is titled "Bing Says Goodbye to META Description as a Ranking Factor". The article simply has no credibility and serves as an example of what leads to so much confusion in the SEO world.
Bing does not definitively state meta descriptions are not a ranking factor. It would be my best guess that Bing either does use meta descriptions as a ranking factor or it is an extremely low weighted factor.
Indirectly, Bing does weigh CTR as a ranking factor and a meta description does influence CTR so it can have an effect that way. In this sense, I would suggest writing a meta description tag for users. Write the most compelling and accurate description you can which will entice readers to click-through to your site. I would not make any attempt to modify a meta description to improve rankings. Focus CTR.
-
You can confirm directly from Google here: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35624
"While accurate meta descriptions can improve clickthrough, they won't impact your ranking within search results."
-
Agree with pbhatt, a compelling description that convinces searchers to click through can make a ton of difference. Without one, even a high ranking page may not get the traffic you'd expect.
-
The meta description has absolutely no impact on rankings, at least not for Google. When your page's meta description is actually used for a search result, it may impact Click Through Rate but it definitely has no impact on ranking position.
-
When your keywords match the search query they are bolded on the SERPs. That can potentially increase the CTR if it catches the searchers' eyes. If every site in the results is doing the same thing and they all have the bolded keyword in the beginning of the result, you may stand out more if it's in the middle. Just keep it in the first 150 - 160 characters or else it won't make it onto the SERP.
Thinking about what Zsolt said about answering the searcher's questions is more important than the exact placement of the keywords though.
-
You're right that having your primary keyword in the Title tag is import.
However, even Google admits that they no longer take meta keywords into consideration for ranking factors.
There has been shown to have some benefit in putting your primary keyword(s) closer to the beginning of Titles and descriptions - but you still need to make it natural and not stuffed or forced. One reason why you don't want it too far down the sentence is that the descriptions can get truncated and your primary KW can get cut off.
Try to get it in there using the best written sentence for your users.
-
It has some impact bust not very serious, I would say converging to zero. I think writing a good description that answers the serchers's querry and generates clickthroughs is more important than stuffing your kw in the first few words.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Product Descriptions (SEO)
So I would like a few opinions. How long should a product description be? Enough to get the point across? 100 words? 800 words? Over detailed? Any advice would be appreciated.
On-Page Optimization | | mattl990 -
Using Bold text for keywords
Hello I am updating an old e-commerce website of mine and many keywords are in bold - shall I remove the bold tag or keep them there? This is for SEO.
On-Page Optimization | | xdunningx0 -
No meta description on category page
Hi Moz is reporting no meta description on a wordpress category page like this one: http://www.dwliverpoolphotography.co.uk/category/uncategorized/ Can I add a meta description to a category? Best wishes. David.
On-Page Optimization | | WallerD0 -
Different title tags and meta descriptions for desktop and mobile?
Is it possible to use different title tags and meta descriptions for mobile users? For Example: In the SERP for desktop you'll see the desktop title tags and meta descriptions, but in the SERP for mobile you'll the mobile versions of the webpage.
On-Page Optimization | | alex19780 -
Keyword Stuffing in Alt Tags!
Hello, I have on a main page over 50 images. The first page i want to optimize it for MAINKW (let's say). Now, if i use in the alt tags "MAINKW KW1", "MAINKW KW2", "MAINKW KW3" ... "MAINKW KW50" then Google may say that i stuff the MAINKW in that page? Those images are reprezentative for main Categories and i have direct links to them from the main page with the anchors KW1, KW2...KW50.
On-Page Optimization | | VertiStudio0 -
Can I use the first sentence of my page content as a meta description tag as well?
I just want to copy my content on the page and use the first or as well the second sentence of the content self for my meta description tag. Is that OK? Or should the Meta description tag be different?
On-Page Optimization | | paulinap19830 -
Impact of removing category sidebar with keywords?
Our site (a niche financial publication: insideARM.com) requires some more room in the sidebar. We're considering removing the categories (we call them topics) sidebar block, or cutting down the number of items displayed within it. My concern is that we'd be removing a direct link to landing pages for important keyword terms from our most powerful page (the index). Sure, we have the terms listed in the footer, but I am worried that the position change will lower the value of the links. Our users don't really use these links for navigational purposes, which is why it comes up as a potential removed item. Am I wrong to worry about this? Would we be crippling our category pages by doing this?
On-Page Optimization | | insideARM0