Quick Tips for OnPage SEO META Description

By Jonathan Camp

Using the Meta Description to best advantage on your website

The META Description tag is always placed in the HEAD section of your webpage and is not visible on the actual webpage.

All search engines will use this description on the search engine results page (SERP) when someone types in search terms. The meta description is shown below the link to your webpage. It is important to SEO keyword this text.

Note: If the search engine cannot find good enough text within the meta description (keywords, etc.) it will take the first 150 characters from the content of your website – which is not always what you want!

Although the description tag is not so important as the SEO usage of the title tag, it is important to make sure you have relevant keywords within the meta description. These keywords (if matched to the search terms) will be automatically emboldened on the search engine results page – which highlights your website against your competition.

The meta description tag should be completely relevant to the content / title / H1 tags on your page and as such, should be different for each page.

• Always ensure you complete a full analysis of your website pages and structure
• The Meta Description has become less important to the search engines recently.
• The Meta Description is used within the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) as the main description – but only up to 2 lines (approximately 140 characters).
• Use the Google Keyword Tool to ensure you are using the correct keywords for your web page.
• Try to make sure you create a meta description that is ONLY 2 lines long and the most important KEYWORDS are at the start of the description
• Leave your COMPANY NAME out or put it at the end of the meta description – your KEYWORDS should be at the start NOT your company name!
• To code in the HEAD section of each page: <meta name=”description” content=”your description up to about 140 – 150 characters…”>
• If there isn’t a Meta Description Tag the search engine will take the first 140 characters from the start of your content (NOT IDEAL!)
• Try to place the Meta Description tag as high as possible in the HTML code (just below the title is ideal).
• You can code accentuated letters in HTML (&eacute; = é).
• Create a description tag that has your KEYWORDS (at the start) and misses out irrelevant words such as “and, in, is, etc.) – BUT make sure it reads well.
• The Meta Description tags should be different for each page.
• If the search phrase entered into the search engine is found in the meta description tag, it will be shown in bold. So it is a good idea to enter keyword phrases that you think people are searching for.
• Make sure that the meta description phrases are relevant to your page CONTENT and Title Tag
• Put some of your special keywords in CAPITALS as this will make them stand out when someone is searching through the SERP (results page). You need to make sure that your entry on the search engine results page is more prominent than your competitors.
• Optimise your page so that your URL, Title, MEta Description Tag and first H1 heading all contain similar keywords in the same order and optimised for your pages content.

There are many SEO tools and techniques for ensuring that your website will always be visible on the first few pages of the search engines (SERPS). This is a full time job and I suggest that you use a good SEO Specialist Company. Usually, for a small monthly fee these techniques will be used to make sure your website is visible to your prospective customers.

The “Quick Tips” is a series of articles on how to ensure your website ranks well with Google with short tips and tricks for various Web Development subjects on search engine optimisation from Micro Update.

Other subjects being covered and included with Micro Updates SEO packages are:

• Homepage Optimization
• Keyword Phrase Optimization
• Fixing the text links
• Image Optimization
• Keyword Research
• Header Tags Optimization
• Title Tag Optimization
• Meta Tag Optimization
• Alt Tag Optimization
• Anchor Tag Optimization
• Meta tags placement
• HTML Sitemap Creation
• XML Sitemap Creation
• Meta Tags Placements
• Suggestions on Content Optimization
• Complete Image Optimization
• Traffic Tracking Codes
• Remove Spam links
• Google Sitemap
• Optimization of textual content of your Home Page and key inner pages with keyword placement within content
• Creation of Internal Linking Network

Jonathan Camp

Jonathan Camp runs Micro Update Ltd a Professional Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Mobile Application Development in Devon. He has been actively involved with the IT and Web Services areas for over 30 years. He is a PRINCE2 Practitioner and manages a very technical team at Micro Update. The business is built on the ethic of providing a practical solution for local businesses in Devon.