Do your Website’s Meta Tags Stand the Test - Description Meta Tag
Melani Gordon | G Wave Consulting
Do your Website’s Meta Tags Stand the Test Part 1 Description Meta Tag The description Meta tag is where you want to tell the search engines what your website is all about. You can think of the description Meta tag as the first impression of your website. When someone types in a search term in the search engines and your website is listed as matching that search term, the first thing they will see is the title and description of your website. If your description is not compelling enough your website may be overlooked time and time again. The end result would mean less traffic for you. So, let’s take a look at what makes a good description: 1. First and foremost, your description must be relevant to your website. It should convey in a few words what your targeted audience should expect to get out of using your website. Your description should directly relate to both the title and the body content of your website. With that being said, every page on your website may not necessarily have the same description.
Every well designed website should have Meta tags. You might be asking yourself, “What are meta tags”? The short answer is Meta tags are a set of tags placed in the HTML header of your website to provide information to search engines about your website. You got it; the keyword here is search engines. As stated in a previous article, it is vital that you ensure your website is listed in the major search engines. Let’s take this one step further and dissect the two major types of Meta tags.
2. Although you want to make sure to use your main keywords in the description Meta tag, you do not want the description to be a complete reiteration of your keywords. The description should be full complete sentences making sure to be careful of any grammatical errors. Remember, the goal is to communicate to real people the essence of your website. To do so you must speak (“write”) plain ole English.
3. Your description does not have to be really long to get your point across. The typical description is approximately 15 – 25 words long. This is equivalent to about 2 – 3 short sentences. Although there hasn’t been an official word on what the description length needs to be, keep in mind there is only so much space available for your description in the search engine listings. This list may not be all inclusive. However, it’s a great start. To get a better fill of does and don’ts, search the internet using keywords relevant to your website and take a look at what the descriptions look like. For more information on Seacrh Engine Optimization visit G Wave Consulting's Blog. G Wave Consulting partners with SoincSpider to provide professional SEO and Internet Marketing services.