Should you aim for Google to use your meta tags?
-
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!
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
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
-
Google indexing page differently
Does google index an interal page differently depending on whether you are using a FULL url (including domain) or just a relative link? Also, is it possible that using a full URL (http://mysite.com/page.html) causes the browser to "ping" the server differently than just having the href linked to using relative links (/page.html) Could this cause server or firewall perfomance issues?
On-Page Optimization | | WebRiverGroup0 -
Does Title Tag have to be in the HEAD tag?
We are using templates that load the same header for every page. I'd like to just include a different title tag in the "body" template of each page. If I was to do this, does it affect SEO at all?
On-Page Optimization | | moziodavid0 -
Meta keywords and meta news keywords
I've got a question regarding this. So normally Meta keywords it is not relevant and we shouldn't use them, however there are opinions that we can use them as these are signals for other Search Engines. Meta news keywords - are ok to be used in the news sites. what is your opinion on using both of them on a news site? Can this help, or harm? thanks, Irina
On-Page Optimization | | InformMedia0 -
Google Ranking Dropped
Hi We launched a new website on the12th Feb 2012, it appeared on google page one for the search term "compare travel insurance" . Last week it changed ranking to page 49 of google ranking. my site is www.1234compare1234travel1234insurance1234ireland1234.com Take out the 1234 for my site address, some people have mentioned that it was honeymooned to page 1 due to being a new site with new content. Can anyone tell me if it looks as if I've done something wrong and been penalised by google? If not are there any SEO advice I could use to improve ranking? All comments and advice appreciated. Regards Paul
On-Page Optimization | | CocoMagenta1 -
Why do I need to write meta descriptions?
I work at a marketing firm, and was trying to convince my boss that we need to start writing meta descriptions for all pages on the sites we develop for clients. He asked why this would be necessary since Google automatically pulls a snippet of content, containing the keyword(s) that had been searched, from any page listed in its SERPs. I didn't have an answer for this, and it got me wondering: When does Google actually display the meta descriptions that people write instead of scraped content? And is it really that necessary to write meta descriptions?
On-Page Optimization | | matt-145670 -
How can I stop google reading a certain section of text with my H1 tag?
Hey Mozzers, I'm wondering if anybody knows of a way that I can stop google reading a certain part of text within my H1 texts? My issue is that I have individual office pages on my site, but many offices are based in the same city; such as 'London'. I want to keep London within the H1 tag for user experience but I do not want it to be picked up by the search engines and start a canonical issue. I've seen some people say to use document.write or use an image. Does anybody know of a correct way of doing this? Many Thanks.
On-Page Optimization | | Lakeside0 -
Canonical Tag for a 404 page
Hi i have a got a 404 page for example : www.example.com/404.aspx can i use canonical tag on this page so that when the search engine hits the page www.example.com/123123123 13123 it will say Will this be right method ?
On-Page Optimization | | usef4u0 -
Will a "no follow" "no index" meta tag resolve duplicate content issue?
I have a duplicate content issue. If the page has already been indexed will a no follow no index tag resolve the issue or do I also need a rel canonical statement?
On-Page Optimization | | McKeeMarketing0