Can you change meta description at any time without loosing rankings?
-
I'm wondering if it is possible to change the meta description of a page on your site at any time without it affecting rankings on google?
Is it only changing how my SERP looks? Or could bad things happen to changing your meta description?
Appreciate all opinions on this one, thank you guys!
-
Right. Thanks for the advice again! I will definitely go for custom meta descriptions in the near future.
Cheers
-
Actually i have seen sites thrive with the same description, How ever think of it like this when you search for a product for example say a kettle most results have the word kettle in the description and it is highlighted by Google in the search result so relevant, so if yours is the same through out the site that is not going to happen and the chances are the user will click one that has got the keyword in.
-
Thanks askshopper!
Would having the same meta description through out the site (for a while) be a bad thing? Or could I have it like that for the time being?
I can't change them right now because of some issues with my developers atm.
-
Yes you can change them any time, when the page gets crawled again the description will be updated in search results, try to avoid duplicates & I also recommend putting your keywords in the page meta but at the same time maintaining good quality description for the end user.
-
Great, thanks Matt!
-
Meta descriptions don't affect your rankings in search engines - they just help entice people to click on your results in the search engines - have a look here for further peace of mind - http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/meta-description
So you can change them at anytime and it won't affect your rankings.
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 Keywords Still A Thing?
Hey all! First post on here, forgive me for being an SEO newb. Are meta keywords still a thing? Here's why I ask, I read this article from back in 2009 that said they are absolutely not a ranking factor anymore: https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html However, in doing some research on our competition, I found that the top result for "Financial Advisor in Colorado Springs" was this company: http://www.strasbaughfinancial.com/ Honestly, the site seems to be doing everything opposite of what I read to do. It isn't even mobile responsive! With the Moz Bar, I found that no links pointing toward it. Not one video on the site (there is a link to a welcome video but the link is broken!!), no blog or regular content updates, no keywords in the H1 or H2 tags, page titles, etc. The website looks old and, frankly, terrible. Really I’m stumped how this can be ranking so high for so many competitive keywords. Then I realized that they stuffed tons of keywords in the meta description and meta keywords. From what I can tell, this is the ONLY intentional SEO strategy they used. Am I missing something? Are meta keywords still a ranking factor and THAT important?
On-Page Optimization | | otherside130 -
Meta Title in Google does not match the HTML meta title I have coded in a site
I have a client site that is pulling a meta title that is not in his code. I am using Yoast for the titles and descriptions on this site. Not 100% sure why Google is not listing the title we have in place. Could the code be pulling from somewhere else? Is there a fix for this?
On-Page Optimization | | Bryan_Loconto0 -
How can I find these pages?
Hi there! the SEOMOZ software has shown some warnings related to two pages that I can't locate in my WP plattform http://www.tarifakitesurfcamp.com/contacto/estrella/ http://www.tarifakitesurfcamp.com/equipo/equis Any ideas? Many Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | juanmiguelcr0 -
Competitor Out Ranks My Site
Hi This is my first question on SEOMoz and I am confused how a competitor can out rank me for a local search term SEO Tamworth. I have a higher Page Authority, Domain Authority, Number of links etc.. Would this be down to the quality of the links to my site or could it be down to the structure. I score an A for SEO on the on page analysis. Regards James
On-Page Optimization | | Cocoonfxmedia0 -
Mobile Meta Description shorter then Desktop?
I'm pretty sure when I counted the mobile meta description in Google, it's a lot shorter then the recommended 165 char for desktop. Is it shorter or am I just seeing things?
On-Page Optimization | | activitysuper0 -
Duplicate eCommerce Product Descriptions
I know that creating original product descriptions is best practices. What I don't understand is how other sites are able to generate significant traffic while still using duplicate product descriptions on all product pages. How are they not being penalized by Google?
On-Page Optimization | | mj7750 -
Will changing the title tags cause me to lose rankings?
I have a site that gets pretty decent rankings. Based on Seomoz's assessment of my site I have ALOT of title tags that are too long. If I make modifications to my title tags will that hurt my rankings? I am also thinking of removing my company name from the title tag as that is taking up too much space.
On-Page Optimization | | webestate1 -
How unique should meta descriptions be?
I understand that it is a best practice to write a different meta description for each page. However if you have 50 pages on a topic that are similar, is it okay to just change a couple words. For instance if you have a page about how to get an SEO job in each state, can you use the same meta description 50 times but change just the state name. Or is it much better to vary the meta descriptions significantly. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | SparkplugDigital0