SEO Silverado Services

Meta Description Basics : The SEO Way

Monday, 05. 16. 2011  –  Category: On-Page Optimization, SEO Process

While meta description tags do not have any effect or directly affect how your page or site will be ranked in search engines, it is still useful for SEO purposes.

About

Meta description is a small piece of HTML code that can be found inside the head section of a Web page. This is usually placed before the Meta keywords tag and after the Title tag but the order does not really matter.

The correct syntax for this HTML tag is:

<meta name=”description” content=”Your meta descriptive sentence/s goes here.”>

While some might just neglect meta description tags, it is still better to pay attention to them when creating your page. Your meta description tag will influence whether or not users will actually click on the search engine results page and take a look at your site.

Meta description tags ideally are brief and concise summary of the entire content of the page. This is usually found below the link of your site as shown in search engine results page. Meta tag description should be created in such a way that it provides a brief description of your site that search engine can make use of. Typically, meta descriptions are derived from the first or second paragraph found on the page.

Tips on Writing Meta Description

Limit your meta description tag to 170 character, if it exceeds it should be only be up to 200 characters or 25 to 30 words.

Be consistent. Once you decide on a style for your meta description, it should be the same in all pages while writing a different description for each page.

Make sure that your meta description tag is relevant to the content of your page, providing a brief summary of it.

Your meta description should be well-written that has a visual appeal and should answer the 5Ws and even the How.

Other Information

Meta descriptions are developed to make it easier for users to browse the Web. It is originally designed of page development and document identification. However, since webmasters have abused these and meta tags, search engines now put less weight on the importance of the algorithms of meta description and meta tags.

But still meta description tag remains an important factor in creating a web page and for SEO. Aside from providing a brief summary of the content of the page, it also affects the spidering activities of automated programs that builds directories and resource areas.

Tags: meta description, meta description tag, onpage optimization meta description, optimized page description, page description