Does anyone know what causes the long meta description snippet?
-
You know the ones I mean... Google have been infrequently displaying some meta descriptions as 3-4 lines long for some time now. But recently, I've been noticing them more. Not sure whether it's just a coincidence that I've been seeing more for my searches, or whether Google are displaying more in this format.
Does anybody know what causes Google to prefer the longer meta description or extended meta description for some results?
-
Is this here to stay, do you think...? I'm so wary of Google's changes, I don't think I'll be lengthening my titles to make better use of the width until the dust settles a bit.
EDIT: http://www.thesempost.com/new-title-description-lengths-for-google-seo/ (inb4 Google rolls back to the previous layout in one week's time.)
-
I did notice the wider SERPs in my logged in browser this morning. There's been so many layout updates recently, as well as other odd fluctuations, who knows what Google's up to...
I just wondered whether there's any significant difference in CTR for results with longer descriptions. And if it's an improvement, can we optimise our on-page content for it, the same way that we can optimise to increase our likelihood of appearing as a featured snippet, to nudge Google into considering showing the elongated description for our result.
-
It seems that this is the new standard within Google. Here is a recent article (May 11) form Jennifer Slegg about this topic. Search results are about 600 pixels wide.
-
I think that Dr Pete mentioned in there that Google pretty much have open license to do what they want (which we know they do) and if they feel that one or more results deserve more exposure because they answer the question so well, then they will do this.
Also, be aware that in the last 24 hours, Google announced that they are making their search results pages wider which means more room for Titles and Descriptions, so this might also be playing a part in what you are seeing.
I still think that Pete's post sums up everything needed to know about this. I think this explains it pretty well.
"If all of this seems confusing, that's probably because it is. Google is taking a lot more liberties with snippets these days, both to better match queries, to add details they feel are important, or to help build and support the Knowledge Graph."
-Andy
-
Thanks, Andy. This was an enlightening read and I'm grateful for you sharing it, but I don't feel as if it really answered my question. For some search queries, I'm even seeing half of the 1st page results displayed with long descriptions. Surely, this has got to be more than before? But what's so special about _those _results that causes Google to opt for the longer snippet?
-
Rather than go into duplicate details here, Dr Pete did a post on just this a little while back.
Read it in all its glory here
-Andy
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
-
Are Meta-descriptions important for blogs?
I am tasked with optimizing an existing sites SEO. I have added meta's to all the menu pages, however they have blog section with over 700 posts. How important are meta descriptions when it comes to a websites blog? Do I need to take the time to go through 700+ blog posts and create unique meta descriptions for each one?
Algorithm Updates | | rburnett0 -
Meta descriptions
When writing a meta description is it ok to use keywords that are not on the page or site itself?
Algorithm Updates | | aplnzoctober181 -
Multiple products with legitimate duplicate descriptions
We are redeveloping a website for a card company who have far too many products to write unique descriptions for each. Even if they could I don't think it would be beneficial to the user. However they do have unique descriptions for each range which is useful for users viewing an individual card. Which is better practice: a) Ignore the duplicate content issue and supply the user with info about the range b) Provide clear enticing links to find out more about the range which will leave the individual card page a little void of content. Many thanks
Algorithm Updates | | SoundinTheory0 -
Fetch as Google - removes start words from Meta Title ?? Help!
Hi all, I'm experiencing some strange behaviour with Google Webmaster Tools. I noticed that some of our pages from our ecom site were missing start keywords - I created a template for meta titles that uses Manufacturer - Ref Number - Product Name - Online Shop; all trimmed under 65 chars just in case. To give you an idea, an example meta title looks like:
Algorithm Updates | | bjs2010
Weber 522053 - Electric Barbecue Q 140 Grey - Online Shop The strange behaviour is if I do a "Fetch as Google" in GWT, no problem - I can see it pulls the variables and it's ok. So I click submit to index. Then I do a google site:URL search, to see what it has indexed, and I see the meta description has changed (so I know it's working), but the meta title has been cut so it looks like this:
Electric Barbecue Q 140 Grey - Online Shop So I am confused - why would Google cut off some words at start of meta title? Even after the Fetch as Googlebot looks perfectly ok? I should point out that this method works perfect on our other pages, which are many hundreds - but it's not working on some pages for some weird reason.... Any ideas?0 -
I thought META KEYWORDS tag was dead?
http://www.wpkube.com/wordpress-seo-plugin/ this article just came out as a one of the many guides to Yoast's Wordpress SEO. I am surprised it mentioned: Use meta keywords tag: Google reportedly doesn’t use the keywords that your enter for your posts but as Google isn’t the only show in town, you might want to check this box.Recommendation: check I stopped using meta keywords tag because Google doesn't use it any more, plus if you are in a competitive field by using keywords you are giving free keyword research to your competitors? Does any one still use meta keywords here? If so why? Google doesn't use keyword tags, has anyone experienced a dis-benefit to meta-keywords tag from Google ie. dropped rankings etc.?
Algorithm Updates | | vmialik2 -
Did anyone else notice a DA Drop this week?
I have our site + 4 other competitors' sites in my SEOmoz campaigns and all of the DA's dropped by 1 or 2 points. Has anyone else noticed a drop this week? Two months ago, all of these websites also went down 1 or 2 DA points, then some of them came back up a point the next month. What's going on? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | pbhatt0 -
Is it ok to repeat part of a meta-description across multiple pages?
For example, what if I was to conclude each meta-description tag with the line... "Free shipping for orders over $90." The rest of the meta-description tag on every page is unique, but the last sentence would be the same or at least similar. Thoughts?
Algorithm Updates | | B-man0 -
Can anyone explain these changes to our Titles in the SERPS?
Hi there, We've been doing well in the SERPS over the past few weeks. Our previous meta title was displayed as: "Hunter Original Tall - Buy Original Tall Online Here" However, recently we've seen the title in the SERP switch over to: "Hunter Original Tall - Cloggs.co.uk" This has occurred on several of our product pages which display a particular style of a certain brand. So for example: "Ugg Bailey Button - Cloggs.co.uk" Has anyone else experienced these changes or can explain why this may have happened?
Algorithm Updates | | NigelJ
There is not change to the source code and our Titles have proven to have good click through rates in the past. Any ideas mozzers?0