Meta descriptions
-
Hi,
I have placed meta descriptions in a CMS for a client and afterwards checked with the SeoMoz tool "Page elements" that these are embedded correctly. However when checking the SERP for certain pages Google has "composed" the listing from other content than the meta description. What may be the reason, and how to avoid this?
-
True. I've even seem some instances of anchor text being used in descriptions.
-
Det kan hjelpe
But yeah, if it's a decent description (and you seem to be happy with it) I'd look elsewhere for problems first.
-
Hi, there is a DMOZ listing so I could check that, thanks!
-
hi, I'd have to check with the client, but anyway it is in Norwegian so it would probably not help you much! But, the pages in question are not thin on content and are decisively on-topic.
-
Hi Damien,
Not a double post just because I got there first
Would always encourage people to chime in with their own opinions even if it just confirms what was said.
It can help the asker know if an answer is good advice or not
-
Can you post us the URL or is it confidential? It'd be nice to have a look
-
The code I've suggested will only help if it's pulling the description from DMOZ or the Yahoo Directory. Do you have a listing in either? If so is it the same as what is showing?
Even if you do have a listing it doesn't necessarily mean that's where it's getting it from.
As I say, if you've just made the change, wait for a week or so and if your description is long then make it fit into a normal SERPs length snippet.
However it may be that you can't actually do anything to change Google's mind on what it shows for that search term (you may also find the snippet is different depending on what is searched for).
-
hi, thanks but the search to test this was with using the same keywords used for the title-tag and in the meta description and on-site content, so I'm ruling out lack of relevancy here.
-
hi, thanks! The meta description is based on kw research and on page content so relevancy cannot be the issue. Probably they are not using meta-robots and they need to place the code you suggested...?
-
Sorry for double-post! ha
-
Hey,
If you're description isn't as relevant to the keyword you've used to search for your site then search engines may decide to put something more relevant in the description that it has pulled off the page.
To remedy this try and rewrite your description to be more relevant to your targeted keyword.
Hope this helps
DD
-
First give it at least a week or so to update, it doesn't happen immediately.
But, yeah, Google does that sometimes if it finds a chunk of text it thinks is more relevant to the users' search. I've seen this mostly happen on pages with very little text content (image or video heavy pages say) but sometimes it's just because it doesn't think your description is relevant to your page.
I assume that it's from the page and not your DMOZ or YDIR description (if it is either of those add or to your pages). Very small possibility if you've added a different description to a lot of other directories it's being picked up there.
Not too much you can do about it if none of these. Make sure your description is accurate and if it's more than 150 characters try to bring it in under that.
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
-
Image Titles and Descriptions Question
Hello, I have a question about optimizing the SEO on my pages through image titles and descriptions. There are a few times on my website that I use the same image on multiple pages. I am under the impression that giving it a title such as "social-media-marketing-agency-graphic.jpg" will help the SEO for the phrase "social media marketing agency" on that page. My question was, if I want to use the same image on multiple pages, am I better off uploading an entirely new image with a new title to make it more relevant to the new page? Or will this not make large enough of a difference? Or is there an easier solution? Please let me know your thoughts on how to best optimize the pages
On-Page Optimization | | brightsocial0 -
Meta description not showing in search results
Hi, One of my client's websites is not showing its Meta descriptions in search results. I've looked at the html and have noticed that they are using ' rather than " around the description tag (see below) <meta name="<a class="attribute-value">description</a>" content='<a class="attribute-value">Student Accommodation in Portsmouth or Southampton - Fully Furnished Studios, Close to the Universities. All Inclusive Rent with WiFi. Going Fast, Book Now!</a>' /> Is this likely to be the problem, or am I missing something very obvious? The website is http://www.unilife.co.uk/ Many thanks, Ben
On-Page Optimization | | bendyman0 -
Product Descriptions & SEO
I got another small question for my price comparison website that I run 🙂 An example product from my site, to which this question relates http://goo.gl/XDTUNs I have about 600 products which I track, and the product description I have for each is as follows; Paragraph 1 - Standard copy which is contained on all products, only the product name / keyword is changed "Easily compare prices below on a XXX" Paragraph 2 = Blatant, 100% copy of the product description from Amazon Paragraph 3 - Standard copy which is contained on all products, only the product name / keyword is changed "Always read your chosen stores product description before buying your XXX" Firstly, I am now on a mission to create unique descriptions instead of the Amazon ones I foolishly copied. My question is, are the standard paragraph 1 and 3 which are in all my product ok? Or should this be avoided? Should my unique description be paragraph 1, or can it remain in the middle? The reason for the three separate paragraphs was so I could mention to keyword 3 times, which is what is suggested on the Moz page grader. Thanks so much!
On-Page Optimization | | MrPenguin0 -
How do I manage my organic SEO efforts with multiple product descriptions/specifications???
Good Evening MOZ community I am currently working on a website my company has just launched. I am in charge of the entire commercial side of the business from pricing to brand management including all elements of digital marketing. First of all I should make it clear I am by no means an SEO expert. However I appreciate the importance of organic search and particularly on page optimization and no I need to build it into our site from the onset. My problem lies in that our website stocks roughly 2000 individual products (Tools and Engineering products) and I am struggling to overcome the following; 1. I do not have the time or resource to re-write original product descriptions and specifications for 2000+ products 2. How can I create healthy on page SEO without having to do this? (we are not able to provide budget to outsource these efforts at the moment) Will copying manufacturer descriptions cripple our SEO 3. Many product specifications need to be displayed exactly as they would on the original manufacturer websites. How can I include exact copies of these without being penalized by google for duplicating content? Essentially I realise the importance of on page SEO and want to build it into the site for the future but need to find a way of optimizing it with minimal time. I understand much of this is a big ask but any hints or tips you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Rob 🙂
On-Page Optimization | | robmarr7890 -
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 -
Global Meta Data and Titles
I am working on an e-commerce website with Volusion. I have 1 main keyword that I am really trying to focus on for my home page. Last week I was in position #7 for this keyword, and I have never been off the first page of Google for it. Using Volusion you can Globally set a Title and meta description for any pages that do not already have a title or description. I noticed my Global title had the same keyword as I was using for my home page and thought that, that might be taking away some importance from my keyword, so I changed the Global Title to a different keyword. When I looked at my SEO moz rankings today, which crawled last night it said My keyword was #24 on Google. I checked and as of now I am in position #11. Like I said before, I have never not been on the first page for this keyword. Does anyone think that changing the Global title may have been the cause for this??
On-Page Optimization | | DTOSI0 -
What does the "base href" meta tag do? For SEO and webdesign?
I have encounter the "base href" on one of my sites. The tag is on every page and always points to the home URL.
On-Page Optimization | | jmansd0 -
Using AJAX to get a meta description to show up
We're unhappy with the meta descriptions google is picking up for our links in SERPs so have started using AJAX to stream in the content google was previously picking up for meta descriptions. This worked and it doesn't seem to have impacted traffic coming to our site, however since the day of that change our bounce rates have gone up significantly, even for pages that we did not push this change to. Is it possible that doing this caused Google to treat our site differently site wide? Is there anything we should be cautious of when doing this? I know the bounce rates could be impacted by users being better prepared by the google meta descriptions, however it doesn't explain what's happening to parts of our site that we didn't do anything to. -Billy
On-Page Optimization | | RealSelf0