Most Webmasters don't include the Meta Description tag because they think, "Google is just going to pull the information they want It's useless" and that "Meta Description Tags" does nothing for SEO.
Lets remember-- People First -- SEO Second. This is your written "Billboard" to your Prospects.
All you have to do is give Google a little assistance and you could have your Meta Description tag pulled by Google every time, and have it make sense!
The biggest thing you want to avoid is a rambling, say-nothing Description, which includes ellipses. Take eHealthInsurance as an example:
You would think that a company like eHealthInsurance would "get it" but they don't.
Did you know that Titles and Descriptions with ellipses......... generally have lower click through rates?
What does a good one look like?
Not only is the Description strong and compelling, it includes the phone number as well, so it could generate a phone call without even generating a click. Is that good? Get a prospect on the phone and they are as good as closed.
Here are recommendations for a great Meta Description tag:
Change the Description Tags to a shorter, more compelling Description that includes your keyword phrase and the clickthrough rates will increase.
Testing results show that unless your keyword phrase appears in your Meta Description, Google won't use your Description in the SERPs.
Instead, it will pull from the content of your site and often "Frankenstein" it (pull two different sentences of content and "mesh" them together into one).
The above example by Avis is interesting, as the Meta Description seems to be very clear, concise and to the point. This is a great example of what to do. Keep it simple.
Example of What Not to do:
The example below is for the keyword phrase, "discount online furniture." While this could be a classic example of a great Title, look at the Description. Do you see how HTML is included (p align....)?
This is a clear example of Google "Frankensteining" the Description from available text. There is nothing sexy about that!
Enjoy the Weekend!!!
Lets remember-- People First -- SEO Second. This is your written "Billboard" to your Prospects.
All you have to do is give Google a little assistance and you could have your Meta Description tag pulled by Google every time, and have it make sense!
The biggest thing you want to avoid is a rambling, say-nothing Description, which includes ellipses. Take eHealthInsurance as an example:
You would think that a company like eHealthInsurance would "get it" but they don't.
Did you know that Titles and Descriptions with ellipses......... generally have lower click through rates?
What does a good one look like?
Not only is the Description strong and compelling, it includes the phone number as well, so it could generate a phone call without even generating a click. Is that good? Get a prospect on the phone and they are as good as closed.
Here are recommendations for a great Meta Description tag:
- Avoid ellipses by having 150 characters or less (if it helps, 25 words or less).
- Make sure your Description is unique even to your own site.
- Try including some of your offers, guarantees, and even try putting in your phone number to get Call of Action included into your Meta Description.
Change the Description Tags to a shorter, more compelling Description that includes your keyword phrase and the clickthrough rates will increase.
Testing results show that unless your keyword phrase appears in your Meta Description, Google won't use your Description in the SERPs.
Instead, it will pull from the content of your site and often "Frankenstein" it (pull two different sentences of content and "mesh" them together into one).
The above example by Avis is interesting, as the Meta Description seems to be very clear, concise and to the point. This is a great example of what to do. Keep it simple.
Example of What Not to do:
The example below is for the keyword phrase, "discount online furniture." While this could be a classic example of a great Title, look at the Description. Do you see how HTML is included (p align....)?
This is a clear example of Google "Frankensteining" the Description from available text. There is nothing sexy about that!
Enjoy the Weekend!!!
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