2 version of meta description and title
-
Hi guys,
I have seen two versions of meta descriptions and meta titles for one URL (this is happening on a few of my pages).
Initially, I thought Google is pulling the information from my page content. However, it is not the case.
I have realized the information showing on SERPs are very old description (years ago information).
Just a bit background information, we had a new website launched in April this year. The issue stated since the new website launch.
Anyone experienced similar situation?
-
As others said, rewrites are common, but rewrites that include information that no longer exists is a bit odd. Typically, it means either Google is caching old content somewhere (including a duplicate copy of the page), or they're pulling from a directory somewhere, like the Open Directory.
You could try the NOODP tag, since its harmless, although the hit rate is low (i.e. don't get your hopes up):
If it were me, I'd put a unique snippet of the undesired meta description in quotes and do some exact searches on Google. Try to find out where Google thinks that text lives.
-
Hi Josh,
Thanks for the responses. Do you have any suggested tool or website to check crawling and quality of the site?
-
Thanks John. They are useful information.
-
Qua
Have you notified google ? If not follow the steps on the below link and it should resolve.
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1663691?hl=en
Of for some more detail. http://www.seoblog.com/2014/06/google-indexing-deleted-pages/
Hope that assists.
-
yes. that's correct.
-
To be clear are you saying content that has been expunged for 3 years google is displaying?
-
Hi John,
Thanks for your respond.
My understanding of this - Google is going to change the information showing on SERP depends on the search queries, but it is likely to pull information from the page content (if not from what I entered into meta description).
Is that the case? I am trying to figure out how google keeps showing 3 years old content?
Regards,
-
It happens often, as google matches a searchers intent with the relevant information. Often see a difference between branded searches and non branded searches for the same page.
Do you use Yoast?
Is the title in excess of 512 pixels? Is the description over 156 odd characters? There are numerous reasons it can be exacerbated.
Hope that assists.
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
-
Does using Yoast variables for meta content overwrite any pages that already have custom meta content?
The question is about the Yoast plugin for WP sites. Let's say I have a site with 200 pages and custom meta descriptions / title tags already in place for the top 30 pages. If I use the Yoast variable tool to complete meta content for the remaining pages (and make my Moz issue tracker look happier), will that only affect the pages without custom meta descriptions or will it overwrite even the pages with the custom meta content that I want? In this situation, I do want to keep the meta content that is already in place on select pages. Thanks! Zack
On-Page Optimization | | rootandbranch0 -
How do you add meta data to dynamic pages?
We have 1000's of dynamic pages on the website and would like to know how to add meta data to these dynamically generated pages. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | REIT0 -
Duplicate page titles and Content in Woocommerce
Hi Guys, I'm new to Moz and really liking it so far!
On-Page Optimization | | jeeyer
I run a eCommerce site on Wordpress + WooCommerce and ofcourse use Yoast for SEO optimalisation I've got a question about my first Crawl report which showed over 600 issues! 😐 I've read that this is something that happens more often (http://moz.com/blog/setup-wordpress-for-seo-success). Most of them are categorized under:
1. Duplicate Page Titles or;
2. Duplicate Page Content. Duplicate Page Titles:
These are almost only: product category pages and product tags. Is this problem beeing solved by giving them the right SEO SERP? I see that a lot of categories don't have a proper SEO SERP set up in yoast! Do I need to add this to clear this issue, or do I need to change the actual Title? And how about the Product tags? Another point (bit more off-topic) I've read here: http://moz.com/community/q/yoast-seo-plugin-to-index-or-not-to-index-categories that it's advised to noindex/follow Categories and Tags but isn't that a wierd idea to do for a eCommerce site?! Duplicate Page Content:
Same goes here almost only Product Categories and product tags that are displayed as duplicate Page content! When I check the results I can click on a blue button for example "+ 17 duplicates" and that shows me (in this case 17 URLS) but they are not related to the fist in any way so not sure where to start here? Thanks for taking the time to help out!
Joost0 -
Difference in using dividers in TITLE TAG
Hi everyone, i know that dividers in title or even title tag doesnt have much of an impact on better rankings. I had great rankings for many keywords, not using dividers or using only one divider. However for better reading comprehension and usability, and also aesthetics i started to use the pipe as my main divider and other secondary dividers. I saw many pages drop in rankings vs other less competent and with less content pages. My format was as follows: Product Brand | Product description - Additional info or local info ie. Fiber Glass MBI | Insulation Batts for Home and Commercial use - Acoustic and Thermal Insulation I changed the format for a handful of pages, and saw immediate results on rankings and traffic on those pages. Product Brand with Product Description - Additional Info ie. Fiber Glass MBI Insulation Batts for Commercial use - Acoustic and Thermal Insulation. Does it sound like something i should implement page wide. I personally like the aesthetics of the pipe as it gives a cleaner look, but the better rankings on the changed pages with using only one divider makes me think. Does it sound familiar, or its just a coincidence, Regards,
On-Page Optimization | | JesusD0 -
Is this (title) keyword stuffing?
"Animated Explainer Videos by Wick Video" "Video" is used twice. Could this hurt us?
On-Page Optimization | | WickVideo0 -
Minimum Title Tag Length
Hello everyone, I'm curious here, what is the minimum length a Title Tag should be so it doesn't receive the "Title Element Too Short" error here on SEOMoz? Thank you.
On-Page Optimization | | Michael-Goode0 -
Thoughts on Results from Changing Title Tags
A number of the client's we represent have seen drops in rankings. The title tags on these sites are formatted old way of doing tilte: "Blue Widgets| Cheap Widgets | Metal Widgets". We are going to change them to the natural format: Acme Offers Blue, Metal Widgets for Any Budget." Just wondering if anyone has made similar changes post-penguin and if they've seen improved ranking from doing it.
On-Page Optimization | | TopFloor0 -
Title Tag, Are the Keywords Plucked out of it?
We are working on redoing our site and I read the article from rand about how to properly format title tags, here http://www.seomoz.org/blog/tactical-seo-how-many-termsphrases-should-i-target-on-a-single-page He showed how he could take 6 keywords and use them all in the title tag: The title Tag:
On-Page Optimization | | donford
Ted Baker London - Men's Clothing Collections 2005-2008 | Sartorialmoz.org The keywords:
Ted Baker
Ted Baker London
Ted Baker Clothing
Ted Baker Mens
Ted Baker Mens Clothing
Ted Baker Mens Collection So what I am wondering is the keyword Ted Baker Mens Collection actually getting found. In this case we are dealing with a contraction (men's) and a plural form of a keyword (collections). Is it plucked out from the title tag above?
Like this? Ted Baker London - Men's Clothing Collections 2005-2008 | Sartorialmoz.org In his article he goes on to say the biggest mistake he sees is, unfortunately exactly the way our site was built 6 years ago. That is people doing this: Ted Baker, Ted Baker London, Ted Baker Clothing, Ted Baker Men's Clothing, Ted Baker Clothing Collection - Buy Online Now at Manamialameseo.com Our site does just that, while we are PR 4 and get decent traffic for the business we are in, we are doing a huge update with new pages, information, and most importantly trying to get all the SEO the best as possible. I want to make sure before we make these what could be huge impact changes that search engines do in fact Pluck the keywords from the title tag, and they are not required to be together. Thank you for any thoughts, answers and most importantly your time. Example following this formula: Our Top 3 Keywords:
Molded Rubber
Rubber Molding
Custom Molded Rubber Our Old way:
Title: Custom Molded Rubber, Rubber Molding, Molded Rubber
The new way:
Title: Custom Molded Rubber - Molding Services | OurSite.com0