Should you aim for Google to use your meta tags?

[Omar_aw]

When updating meta titles and descriptions, I'm taking note of whether Google is displaying the set tag or changing it to copy from the page. Does this affect the ranking position if Google is having to change the tag?

How much should I worry if Google is choosing to change every other page?

Thanks!

[alexspur]

I have never been worried that Google prefers to choose a copy from the page instead of the meta description. On the contrary, I'm happy with it. It usually makes it longer (up to 300 characters in some cases). And this makes the visible result seem a lot bigger in the rankings. As mentioned above that could really help with CTR.

[jasongmcmahon]

Metadata is for conversion, not ranking. Personally, I prefer to

• use the meta title as the products/ page name
• create a meta description of up to 153 characters  with the target keyword added

Focus on creating good page content, just in case Google decides to use it, instead of the metadata; as is the case sometimes.

[KevinBudzynski]

To build on Joram's answer, Google will typically use your meta description if the keyword query is inside of it. If the keyword is not in the meta description, they will grab snippet(s) from the page.

[joramtenham]

Hi,

This isn't something to be really worried about. Google sometimes chooses to (partially) eplace your meta description with content from the page, when it thinks this content is more relevant to the user's query.

In fact this can actually have a positive effect on your CTR and thus your rankings.

Hope this helps.