Why do I need to write meta descriptions?
-
I work at a marketing firm, and was trying to convince my boss that we need to start writing meta descriptions for all pages on the sites we develop for clients.
He asked why this would be necessary since Google automatically pulls a snippet of content, containing the keyword(s) that had been searched, from any page listed in its SERPs.
I didn't have an answer for this, and it got me wondering: When does Google actually display the meta descriptions that people write instead of scraped content?
And is it really that necessary to write meta descriptions?
-
Cool! Thanks Doug!
-
Here's an article I found about search snippets affecting click throughs. (In this case it was the presence of an article date that was causing a drop in CTR.)
Evidence of “SERP Snippet” Impact on Clickthrough Rates
And this article about boosting traffic by changing your snippets:
Easy Way To Boost Your Search Engine Traffic
I agree, that it would be to do some more testing of the impact of optimising the snippet for conversion.
-
Has there been any research done on CTR for written descriptions vs. snippets grabbed by Google? Personally, I hardly ever look at meta descriptions when searching for something. My judgement is mostly based on the title tag.
Logically, it makes sense that a well-crafted description would be better, but I'd like to see some hard evidence to back that up.
-
If you have a key generic keyword phase that describes the product but not the brand and is strong ($10 PPC), should these phrases be first?
Also, should my brand names be in Meta tags?
Note that I prefer responses from individuals familiar with Yahoo RTML. due to what I think is automatic meta tags.
-
Yep, with good meta descriptions traffic will hit 88mph in no time.
-
Tell your boss that the website's flux capacitor will get overloaded without a good meta description.
-
If your meta-description doesn't contain the search keywords then google may view a section of your page that does as more relevant and return that instead.
-
Traffic is pretty quantifiable, but conversion perhaps less so. What good are strong SERP's if users aren't clicking through to your site and converting. Well written meta descriptions are an important part of the funnel, and what is the cost of creating them? Time?
-
No, it didn't. Is that the only way Google will display the meta description? If so, that makes sense and clears up my confusion.
-
Did the meta-description have the keywords in?
-
It really depends on the page and the website. But, as a rule, I think it's always smart to write a meta-description to gain the trust and attention of your potential visitors. As you probably know, the meta-description usually shows up under the Title and URL in a Google result. This bit of text could potentially set you apart from your competition.
It's true that Google will grab a bit of text and use that for a description of the page by default, but Google is a robot and probably isn't going to grab the most important text in the article. It will simply grab some text with the related keywords usually. It certainly isn't going to put together a catchy sentence / summary for searchers to read.
To make this as clear as possible, let's take a search for "cheap headphones":
We have the #1 site that uses a meta-description -
"Cheap headphones and discount headphones, Get information on all types of headphones and find the secret to getting the best deals and what website sells them for the best price."Then we have the #2 site that is letting Google choose its meta-description text. It looks like this:
"20 results – Our top picks for the best cheap headphones around in 2010.| $19.95 | sugg. retail price: $22.95 | Kidz Gear Headphones | Excellent ... |
| $19.99 | sugg. retail price: $19.99 | Koss KSC 75 |Surprising high ..."
|
These aren't great examples because the #1 site has a description meta-tag that is too long. But I think it gets the point across. It's a lot nicer to read something that is concise and grabs the searcher's attention than to hope Google is going to pull the best information for the user. Human wins vs. Google this time. (for now).
-
I'm confused about exactly when Google displays your meta description, instead of a random snippet. I just did a search using a term that I knew would bring up a site I'm familiar with. I know for a fact that meta descriptions were written for every page on the site (not by me), but Google didn't display one when I did my search and the site turned up in the SERPs. Instead, it displayed a random snippet with the keywords that I had used in bold.
Why is this?
-
And is it really that necessary to write meta descriptions?
Your boss is a marketing man?
I can't imagine a marketing man who is willing to give up control of the sales pitch.
He needs a kick in the pants.
Why are we paying him... just let google do it.
-
Do you want to rely on google picking the most compelling piece on content from your page and hope that this will be more attractive than the carefully crafted meta-descriptions that your competition have produced.
Your entry in the SERPS result is probably the first thing that someone will see about your website. Think of your title and description as a kind of small-ad and make it as compelling as possible. A well crafted description can really make a difference.
With a well crafted description and title you can get more traffic than the #1 ranking site.
-
Because a well written meta description can be much more compelling and generate better click through from the SERPs than a random snippet of copy from the page.
Use everything you already know about writing good calls-to-action and apply them to your meta tags and see if CTR improves. If it does (and I bet it will) then you'll know exactly why it's worth it to write a good meta description.
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
-
Google finding my meta descriptions
I recently had my site redone (about a year ago). Since then google has not been using my meta descriptions much and more so using the descriptions within my site. Is there a reason for this? An example would be http://www.waikoloavacationrentals.com/vrp/unit/kolea-14/
On-Page Optimization | | RobDalton0 -
I need a fresh eye on this project, as I ran out of ideas
I know generally it's not a good idea posting project urls, however this time I'll break the rule as I could really use some genuine ideas: I just can't explain my rankings. So I created a small site, branded term, english language, I will use my British ranking data, you can use justproxy.co.uk to verify if you'd like. Site is 2 years old. My main keyword is Breast Actives, however my I describe the strangest phenomenon after the bullets. Site: http://buybreastactives.info So the point is: I did a little keyword stuffing back in the days, but removed it, took a safe middle density (analyzed the first rankers keyword usage). I've been looking at competitors backlink profiles comparing them to mine. The growth rates are similar. I have a little lower Domain and Page authority than the first few sites, but not that lower. Backlink quantity is somewhat similar to first 20, yet still I am ranking somewhere way beyond 200. I am not expecting a first place with a "somewhat similar" profile, but my bet is I should be at least in top 50. The only technique that worked was regular posting, I brought up the site into top 70, but as the site is really focused on a particular product, and the site's brewity suffered the price of posting semi-related articles, so I stopped. Rank out beyond 200. Another intresting aspect I cannot get my head around is that for "breast actives reviews" I have a dedicated page buybreastactives.info/real-customer-reviews, with some keyword usage, and another page buybreastactives.info/worldwide is ranking for it (around 80-90), but it does not use this keyword at all. So if you have some time to give it a glance I would be greatful for some thoughts. EDIT: Before penguin around 2012 dec site was in top 10 for nearly all terms targetted, with the stuffed keywords.
On-Page Optimization | | snetface0 -
How many words for product description
Hi, I've read articles on the MOZ blog, which stress the point for unique product descriptions. I think this was even mentioned in one White Board Friday. Now I am in the process of writing them. How many words should they have at least in your opinion? Best, Robin
On-Page Optimization | | soralsokal0 -
Website was given to someone else, does a "move" or something need to be performed in Webmaster Tools?
A website was given to another person for their business. None of the original webpages remain they have all been removed. There is nothing on that domain now. Is there some notification that needs to be made in webmaster tools to make Google aware of this?
On-Page Optimization | | will21120 -
Need suggestion: Should the user profile link be disallowed in robots.txt
I maintain a myBB based forum here. The user profile links look something like this http://www.learnqtp.com/forums/User-Ankur Now in my GWT, I can see many 404 errors for user profile links. This is primarily because we have tight control over spam and auto-profiles generated by bots. Either our moderators or our spam control software delete such spammy member profiles on a periodic basis but by then Google indexes those profiles. I am wondering, would it be a good idea to disallow User profiles links using robots.txt? Something like Disallow: /forums/User-*
On-Page Optimization | | AnkurJ0 -
Meta Description?
Hello! Does anyone know why when Im seeing my page in the serps its not displaying the meta description I have sepcified using my CMS but rather google is pulling a line from the last paragraph I have on the page? Thanks guys!!
On-Page Optimization | | TP_Marketing0 -
Lead With Branded Keywords or Descriptive Keywords in Page Title for (Niche) Site?
Our site is hingeheads.com, and our products and product catalog are unique in two ways. For one our product is not something that people are generally aware of, and secondly our entire product catalog consists of different variations of the same product. **Catalog Overview: **http://hingeheads.com/collections/all Product Example: http://hingeheads.com/products/dolphin I keep wondering if it is better to lead the title with "branded keywords" [1] or with "descriptive keywords" [2]? Dolphin HingeHead | Unique Home Decor & Gift Idea | HingeHeads Dolphin Decor Accessories & Unique Gift Ideas | HingeHeads I am currently going with the second solution, but I am always wondering if that's the right/better solution. I am curious to hear feedback from people who have more experience with this than I do. How would you structure the title for our product pages? Thanks! Kai
On-Page Optimization | | hingeheads0 -
How different does each page tilte need to be?
I've got a site that is all about wood countertops. There are a few ways people can find info on wood tops. (main) wood countertops (main) butcher block butcher block counters wood counters hardwood countertops etc. For the most part I want to rank for the two top key phrases because they pretty much cover all the other basis with google being as smart as it is. So they question is how different should each page title be? Examples: Wood Countertops - Butcher Block Counters | by J. Aaron = index page Wood Counter tops - Butcher Block Counters - About Us | J. Aaron = about us page Cleaning Butcher Block - Wood Countertop Maintenance | J. Aaron = care & maintenance page Would it be OK to use: <title>Wood Countertops - Butcher Block Counters | by J. Aaron</title> as the template for the whole site with the addition of the actual page subject as an additional piece of the sentence, like example 2 or would that be too similar? Also is that a good idea or should I commit to optimizing each page for a different key phrase? If so would you optimize the home page for the most searched for phrase and let the other pages back it up with the other search terms?
On-Page Optimization | | JAARON0