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    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. On-Page Optimization
    4. Duplicate meta descriptions

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    Duplicate meta descriptions

    On-Page Optimization
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    • elaineryan
      elaineryan last edited by

      Hi all,

      I'm using Yoast's SEO plugin and when I run a On Page report card here on SEOMOZ it says there are 2 descriptions tags

      I've been trying to fix this but can't (I'm new!)

      Anyone any ideas on this?

      Thanks

      Elaine

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Nobody1560986989723
        Nobody1560986989723 @elaineryan last edited by

        No problem, glad I could help - and I agree the Yoast plugin is a good one but if you're a paying member of SEOmoz, follow up using it with the on-page optimiser so you have a variety of angles covered.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • elaineryan
          elaineryan @elaineryan last edited by

          Hi Martin

          That's what I am doing now, going through pages and taking out the description and using Yoast for everything else.  Love his Plugin.

          Thanks again for all your time and help

          elaine

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Nobody1560986989723
            Nobody1560986989723 @elaineryan last edited by

            Maybe for now then, use the Description you can provide via the theme you're using and use Yoast for the other bits?

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • elaineryan
              elaineryan @elaineryan last edited by

              Hi Martin

              You're very kind to help.  I checked, theres only one SEC plugin and every single url on the site was showing duplicate meta descriptions according to SEOMOZ tools.  This is resolved when I don't use Yoast description.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • Nobody1560986989723
                Nobody1560986989723 @elaineryan last edited by

                Hmmm. Which URLs is SEOmoz saying are containing the duplicate meta description?

                And have a look in Wordpress under 'plugins' and see if there are two 'SEO' plugins, as you might be able to disable one if one has shipped with the theme you're using.

                Another experiment might be to temporarily apply a different theme and re-run the SEOmoz tool and see if you still have duplicate META DESCRIPTIONs as that would help you to see if it is the theme causing the problem.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • elaineryan
                  elaineryan @Nobody1560986989723 last edited by

                  Hi Martin

                  Thanks for coming back to me so quickly!  I don't think there are different pages causing the problem.  I've looked at it again.

                  My theme has an SEO description box, as does Yoast's plugin.  When I do not use Yoast, and run a page report there, it comes up with a tick on the box, saying that I do not have a 2 meta descriptions.

                  I am guessing the problem is with my theme (having SEO already in it).  God help us all, at the moment I am in the header php having a look at that.  I am not a tech person, I'm a psychologist, so that should tell me loud and clear "Get out of the PHP!

                  I have just emailed the theme support to see if there is a way to disable their SEO, as I want to continue with Yoast.

                  I should say that it is not showing up in google webmaster tools.  It shows no errors or problems with the site

                  Thanks again for posting

                  Nobody1560986989723 elaineryan 5 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Nobody1560986989723
                    Nobody1560986989723 last edited by

                    Hi there!

                    What you need to do is note down which two pages are causing the duplicate META DESCRIPTION and then log into Wordpress and go and edit those posts or pages.

                    At the bottom of the page editor are boxes for title and meta description, so you will need to change one or both of them and then republish the page.

                    Let me know if you need screenshots as I have a couple of clients who we use Yoast's SEO plugin as a part of managing the on-site SEO.

                    Thanks,

                    Martin

                    elaineryan 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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