Get A Better Meta to be a Trendsetter

Google Webmaster Central is a pretty good starting point for learning about your SEO and it’s free. So when I come across something of interest there I like to share it.

I just read something on one of the posts that really tells it like it is:

While the use of a description meta tag is optional and will have no effect on your rankings, a good description can result in a better snippet, which in turn can help to improve the quality and quantity of visitors from our search results.

Meta tags are still often misunderstood (I’m a bit wiser now I’ve read Google’s post) and in some cases web owners don’t use them at all. Frankly, some of the tags aren’t worth bothering with anymore.

Google’s post is a good primer on what the different meta tags do and which ones actually make any kind of difference - and why.

The description meta tag is one that should certainly be given some time and consideration. After all, if you manager to get a coveted 1^st page placement in Google and your description stinks, how many visitors will you end up turning away?

Just think how many times you’ve read a poor description and not bothered looking at the site. Conversely, remember the times you’ve seen a great description snippet in the search engine results and you’ll probably remember you clicked on the link before you even finished reading it!

The description snippet you put in the meta tag should be thought of as teaser copy to interest your prospective visitors. Get that right and you’re likely to see more visitors.

And best of all – it’s free!