Google not using meta desription
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I have seen several posts as to why google may not be using the meta description. The most common reason is that they found other text on the page that is more relevant. While I have seen this to be the case on some, most of the time it is not. Is there any way to alert the google bot that it is taking wrong info that would not be good to the user?
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Try to use the header tags properly
Only one h1
a few h2
etc -
@zoooky Thanks for the info, I had the same problem.
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There is no way to tell Google if it is using the wrong meta description as such. However it is possible to influence it.
Basically you have two options- Technical SEO - have a good look after the page layout and the quality of the HTML on the page. You may find it is a simple technical error such as JavaScript hiding text or incorrect use of headings.
- User intent - Review the user intent behind the context of the page, if Google sees it as not relevant you will be fighting an uphill battle.
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Google rewrites meta descriptions for mainly 2 reasons.
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The first reason is the poor use of meta descriptions to summarize the page.
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The second reason is more accurately matching the search query or intent.
Unfortunately, there is not any alert option that tells google bot to show a predefined meta description.
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@pau4ner Thanks. Yeah, that is what I was figuring. The problem is it is way off. For example my description could be:
Kolea at Waikoloa Beach Resort offers two and three bedroom vacation rentals on the beach.
Google is making it:
1BR , 2BR, Houses, Condos, and on and onIt is pulling info that makes zero sense.
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Hi, there is nothing that can be done to "force" Google to use the metadescription. Just as with titles, Google can choose to honor or not the metadescription that you wrote.
However, I have found that using the exact same keyword you want to rank that post for increases the odds of Google using your metadescription. If the keyword consists of several words, make sure to use them in the same exact order in your metadescriptions.
I hope that helps!
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It is always advisable to have a meta description of 150-160 characters. Anything beyond that will be truncated by Google.
Try restructuring your content in such a way that it fits within 15-160 characters
All the best!
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