Meta Titles and Descriptions
-
Is there no use of writing Meta Titles and Descriptions?
I have them added to 100's of my articles but Google picks the actual title from the URL and title in the article only... any reason for this?
How can i check if my Meta title and Description are being seen by Search engines but it will just take time to index the new metas may be few more months to change in Search results.
-
Just because Google is choosing not to display your titles and descriptions doesn't mean it hasn't indexed them. It's content and in the source code. It's indexed. It's being taken under consideration for ranking purposes. Google ultimately controls what is displayed, however. Titles and meta descriptions are merely a polite suggestion.
There is no way to opt out of those rewrites 100% of the time. NOODP is only good for opting out of Dmoz descriptions, if you even have one there at all. (Most newer sites probably won't since inclusion hasn't been relevant for at least 5 years, probably longer.) It's not the only alternative snippet source. It's much more likely that Google will just find relevant text from the page itself to populate a description snippet, and NOODP will not block that. If Google is choosing its own snippet over mine, I don't always worry about it unless it's choosing something that's just flat out bizarre.
I also like to look at Google's rewrites as instructive. The algorithm is serving up something that it thinks is more relevant to your query, and these days, with RankBrain and the entire menagerie in play, it's getting pretty smart. So if Google is rewriting my description, which means that Google has decided that particular text is relevant, then I'm going to take notes on what text it's grabbing and seriously consider adjusting my own description to be a closer match to whatever Google is inclined to serve up. If Google is literally pointing out the most relevant text for that query, maybe we should listen, right?
-
HI,
You might want to try adding the NOODP tag across all pages on your site.
This tag will allow you to 'opt-out' of Google filling in this data for you. The ODP in that stands for Open Directory Project, aka Dmoz, which is where Google grabs this information from if it feels your titles and descriptions aren't the best.
-
Hi there,
I think that the problem you're having is because the spider doesnt come around your site.
Have you tried any crawler software? such as screaming Frog, so as you can check for certain what is google seeing.
Also, I'd give a try by indexing manually just one of those articles.Also, you could take a read on this MOZ Article: Why Won't Google Use My META Description?
Hope its helpful
GR.
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
-
Descriptive domain vs business name domain
I originally set up my domain as "overlandparkphotographer.com" and then have my "jpshots.com" pointing to it. What I recently discovered is that even though the pages of my I set Yost SEO Title to be "JPShots Senior Pictures | Wedding Photographer" When you search "overland park photographer" the snippet tile is just "overland park photographer" which sounds super sketchy. I don't know if this is something to do with yost, or if my sneaky Domain isn't worth much, and I should simply use my regular jpshots.com domain as the primary. I know it works like a charm with yahoo, but I'm not sure how much the domain name factors google these days.
Algorithm Updates | | JPRichardson0 -
What does it exactly means when Google brings the "brand name" to the beggining of the page title in search results when it was actually given at the end?
We see many times...page titles starts with "brand name: page for etc" where actually "brand name" has been given at the end and keywords at beginning. Why does Google make this change? I noticed this happens when similar title tags are used by multiple websites for high difficulty keywords. Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Google is simplifying my meta titles. What does it mean?
Hi Guys. I've noticed that google seems to be simplifying my meta titles in their SERP for some keyword searchs. Should I be worried about this? Perhaps a sign of being a little 'spammy' in my meta titles? Or is Google just aiming to bring up the most relevant looking result? Based on that specific search? Isaac.
Algorithm Updates | | isaac6630 -
Meta Description / Meta Keywords
So, I am using Wordpress and the seo by yoast..... I have heard that meta keywords and descriptions are no longer recognized or used by search engines with respect to page rankings in the serps. Is this true? If so, why do people still recommend using these? I thought content is king these days?
Algorithm Updates | | APICDA0 -
Should I remove my keyword meta?
So it's safe to assume keywords are no longer used by SEs in the old fashioned sense to rank sites, but should be keep them as indicators of site content? It's been suggested by some that they're detrimental for two reasons: 1. Your competitors can snoop the keywords you're targeting but mainly... 2. Over-optimisation is the enemy these days! Thanks for your input 🙂
Algorithm Updates | | underscorelive0 -
Google automatically adding company name to serp titles
Maybe I've been living under a rock, but I was surprised to see that Google had algorithmically modified my page titles in the search results by adding the company name to the end of the (short) title. <title>About Us</title> became About Us - Company Name Interestingly, this wasn't consistent - sometimes it was "company name Limited" and sometimes just "company name. Anyone else notice this or is this a recent change?
Algorithm Updates | | DougRoberts0 -
Title Tags and Over Optimization Penalty
In the past, it was always a good thing to put your most important keyword or phrase at the beginning of the Title Tag with the company name at the end. Now according to the over optimization penalty in the Whiteboard Friday video, it seems to be better to be more human and put the company name at the beginning with the keyword or phrase following. Am I understanding this correctly?
Algorithm Updates | | hfranz0 -
HTML Not Validating META Title??!!
This seems pretty odd to me. HTML 5 is not validating lots of the typical META content - including, amongst others, the META title. This is typically seen as a standard 'must-have' for many SEOs, including the check-list on SEOmoz. Has anybody else had this issue? And of course, did you find a solution? Thanks, Mark
Algorithm Updates | | RiceMedia0