SEO Title Versus Meta Description Tag

[Kingalan1]

From an SEO perspective, is the title tag more important than the description tag? We use a set format for these tags on our real estate web site. The site contains 300 listings.

Sample Title Tag:
Greenwich Village | Office Space Rental| 2300SF $9583/month

Sample Description Tag: 
Classic Greenwich Village office rental. Hardwood floors, 11' ceiling. 5 oversized windows. 24/7 attended lobby. Renovated common areas. Below market rent.

Are we shooting ourselves in the foot by repeating the Square Footage and monthly rent amounts in the title tag? Should this tag be used for a short more descriptive terms so as to maximize the SEO benefit? Should these numbers be listed in the description tag? The listings are not heavily SEO optimized so I don't know whether this is really a non-issue.

[ClaytonJ]

Everyone is correct the Title Tag is more important than the description.   You should also consider you H1 in context of your title tag as that is also important. On the description that has no or nominal SEO impact. So as  Patrick states this is where you take the opportunity to focus on CTR or a CTA.

Your sample tag - does not include the brand name, so google will likely draw that in. So Patrick's suggestions should be considered Page | Category | Brand

I would think that you are shooting yourself in the foot including monthly figures and square foot in the title unless that is a key way people search for the space in the US - i would think  Greenwich Village | Office Space Rental | Brand.  That is what I would recommend.  Cover suburb, geo-specific and key words office space and then brand...

I am not sure I would even list size etc in the description, but leave with you.

[Linda-Vassily]

Yes, title tags are more important from an SEO perspective, but the real goal is to get people to do what the website is set up for, which in your case is rentals.

Rental pages by their nature are not evergreen (hopefully!), so getting interested buyers to click on a listing is more important than getting a page to rank well.

You do need to rank well enough so that people will see your results (so, first page, anyway) but I know that seeing square footage and pricing information right up front would certainly make me click on that result, even if it were lower on the page.

You could try splitting your listings and doing half with these details and half with descriptive keyword terms, and see what you get.

[PatrickDelehanty]

Hi there

Your title tag is substantially more important that your meta description, but keep in mind that meta descriptions are important for click through purposes.

I would research your audience and the content that they regularly digest so that you can name your titles (and format them) more appropriately. You want the most important information first, and branding last (in my opinion). I usually set up titles the following way:

Page | Brand
Category | Brand
Page | Category | Brand

Some people do it differently, but make sure it's based on research and data - not just pulling out of thin air.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[Andy.Drinkwater]

In terms of what is right and wrong, don't just look at this from an SEO perspective, remember that you want something engaging to people seeing you in the SERPs. You want to get clicks - there is little point in having a good placement but you are putting potential visitors off.

Be as descriptive as possible, but without adding more in just for the sake of it. Sometimes a short title can be more effective than a longer one. Lots of people skim-read, so keep this in mind.

Add important information to both title and description as needed.

-Andy