Introduction
In case you don’t know it, the meta description tag or ‘Meta Desc’ as we call them are what people searching the web will see in the SERP’s (Search Engine Results Pages). That, along with your important title tag information I explained in one of last week’s articles on this website. Simply put, the words placed within your meta description tag can help a page to rank higher in the search results, if done correctly.
Definition of the “Meta Description Tag”
The meta description tag is just simply a snippet of HTML code that belongs inside the HEAD section of a Web page. To be real effective, it has to be placed after the title tag and before the meta keyword tag. The proper syntax for the meta description tag is:
META
Functioning Of The Meta Description Tag
When applied correctly, the functioning of this important tag is twofold. The actual words placed within this tag are given some crucial weight with most major search engines today and can really help a page to rank higher in the search results for specific keywords and key phrases. Just as important, the words placed in the meta description tags appear under the title in a search engine’s list of results, giving searchers a much better idea of what that page is all about.
If no information is supplied for that tag, or if it is omitted from the HTML code of a web page, the search engines will often use the first few words that appear on that web page as the description of the site that appears on search results pages. We’ve all seen search results pages with some that look like this:
“Maria’s Gourmet Restaurants” ‘ [homepage] [about us] [hours] [contact us].
If the search results look like this it is simply because Maria or her site designer either forgot or neglected to write a meta description tag in her or his HTML code. The search engine did retrieve in fact the first few words on the page, but they happened to be some navigational links. As anyone can readily see, not only does this look awkward, it fails completely in offering searchers any information they can use that could otherwise be of value to them.
Surveys indicate that most people tend to skip over search results that look similar to what you just saw and they then click on the next link that will offer them more relevant information describing what is on that next page.
How To Really Design META Description Tags That Will Work
As we have just seen, because the meta description tag actually serves two functions, it must be carefully thought about differently than the title tag and meta keyword tag. Personally, I use both of those tags mostly for high search engine results rankings. But the meta description tag should also be thought of as a marketing vehicle along with being a tool for high search rankings. I recommend that it utilizes your most important keywords and key phrases for that particular page. Additionally, make certain it is written in a way that will entice searchers to click on your link instead of your competitors.
If you read my previous articles on this website, and if you have access to a professional copywriter for the sales copy for your website, you could take an important descriptive sentence from the sales copy and place it in the meta description tag. Even if your page wasn’t professionally written, you should look to find a line that will work for this function. Some optimization experts recommend using the first line of text on your page if you don’t know which one to use. I think that is a good place to start, although there are certainly more you can look at.
If you have what you think is an appropriate first line, then you could try it and then test the results in the search engines. There are some that will tell you the search engines don’t give the description tag nearly as much importance as they give the title tag. Some of that could be true. However, and talking from experience, I do know that some major search engines do in fact index the words placed in the meta description tag right into their database, and therefore it is important for you to get some of your most important keywords into them.
There are also some people that will tell you that the first words in this tag are often given more weight than the latter words. Because of this, I always try to write the important keywords at the beginning. I also usually try to use the same first words that I’ve used in my title tag as the first words in my meta description tag whenever at all possible. I usually limit this tag to one good but short descriptive sentence. Generally speaking, some search engines will index approximately 150 characters of your meta description tags. The longest ones I have seen so far are in HotBot.
Additionally, try to not repeat words in the meta description tag. However, one thing you could do is use various forms of words in the tag, example: plural/singular, present tense/past tense or “ing” forms of words or verbs and so on and so forth.
Finally, always make sure that all your meta description tags are actual sentences, not just simply a list of keywords or key phrases. If you create good meta description tags, you can often use them as the descriptions you would enter in search engine directories such as Yahoo, the Open Directory (DMOZ), Global Business Listing and LookSmart.
Author:
Serge Thibodeau of Rank For Sales
Writing Powerful Key Phrases – Introduction
In this article, you will learn the proper techniques on how to write powerful key phrases for the search engines and the importance of good relevant text. But first, we need to know how to properly research these key phrases, ensuring they are the right ones. You cannot write efficient key phrases if you don’t know what they are.
Identification comes first. Action comes second. In case some of you still have some reservations or doubts on the importance of key phrases, let’s start by defining exactly what these key phrases are and try to learn how to work with them in writing strong, key phrase-rich text that is relevant for your web site.
First, The Importance Of Key Phrases
If chosen correctly, your key phrases will truly yield the return on investment you need. It will help transform any web site from a static one to one that pulls in qualified and targeted visitors, wich, in turn, should become buyers. I will even include a case study, where I have a client who manufactures precision-engineered, special teflon parts that are designed for the aerospace industry.
When I reviewed his “antiquated” key phrases, the first thing I discovered was they weren’t targeted in any way and not specific enough. For example two of their key phrases were: teflon parts and parts for airplanes!
Upon initial observation, one might think the key phrase choices seemed logical. After all, they are in the aerospace industry and they do manufacture teflon parts. However, years of optimizing sites for strong key phrases have taught me to never assume anything. The careful research and identification of the exact key phrases needed comes before any other process. It comes before the writing of your copy, before inserting your Meta Tags, before everything.
So, to write powerful, key phrase-rich text, you need to identify the exact key phrases that, number One: will specifically target what product or service you offer, and number Two: are those key phrases exactly what your average searcher types in when he or she needs a specific product or service like what your site offers?
If a person optimizes a web site for the wrong key phrases or if that person guesses or assumes in any way what key phrases people are searching for without better evidence, in such an instance the chances for failure are very high. To proove to you that this is right, the fact that one of the main key phrase in this site was “airplane parts”, the owner would regularly get requests, either via email, FAX or phone for airplane parts which had nothing to do with HIS business.
In one such case, they received an RFP (Request for Proposal) for a part that goes in the landing gear of large airplanes such as Boeing’s 747. The only applications of the parts manufactured by my client goes into the security openings and closings of most of the passenger and cockpit doors on medium-sized aircraft! So you can readily see the importance of carefully researching and using the right key phrases when optimizing a commercial web site.
Developing powerful marketing copy with the wrong key phrases can lead you to situations like the one described above. Once I carefully identified and selected the right key phrases, my teflon parts manufacturer client went from one to two Internet clients a month to two or three a week. Needless to say, the work done is appreciated and, a year later, that company is still doing very well in the SERP’s (Search Engine Results Pages).
The Wordtracker Professional Search Tool
If you are like most people, you might find that searching through various databases on your typical working day could be very time consuming, to say the least. Instead, what we use at Rank for $ales is the Wordtracker professional search tool. Today, WordTracker is the best and the most popular fee-based keyword and key phrase analyzer on the Internet and is used by most serious search engine optimization professionals we know of. We use it daily and we have no idea how we could ever achieve the work we do without such an important resource.
WordTracker is based on meta search queries made by ordinary people searching the web everyday, wich means that the keyword and key phrase combinations found are much more reliable than the pay-per-click listings generated by the Overture suggestion tool. Over time, we have also found that the data generated is also more objective. Now the people at Wordtracker know that you should not always rely on the most competitive keyword and search query combinations.
These are more or less dictated by large corporations that can afford to allocate much bigger budgets on various search engine marketing and sales campaigns. We recommend that it just might be as sensible to optimize for less popular key phrases or search terms for your industry!
Let me give you some general rules in the careful research of key phrase brainstorming. Number One, you should use key phrases your target audience will readily understand. Your sales and marketing division may or may not agree with you on this. However, at all times, you should remember that you want to carefully identify and use only key phrases that only your audience will respond to, and not nice-sounding, marketing-hype words that will please your sales department, but, like in our aerospace client example, will pull in the wrong audience.
A note about “one-word” key phrases:- First, if it’s only one word, it cannot be called a key phrases to begin with! Typically, single keywords are too competitive to be worth anything and chances are you will be wasting a lot of time, for little return in the end. Using Word Tracker, after you have carefully identified and selected your right key phrases, it’s time to start writing the body of your text.
Author:
Serge Thibodeau of Rank For Sales
The King is dead! Long live the King!
The death of Louis XIV. was announced by the captain of the bodyguard from a window of the state apartment. Raising his truncheon above his head, he broke it in the centre, and throwing the pieces among the crowd, exclaimed in a loud voice, “Le Roi est mort!” Then seizing another staff, he flourished it in the air as he shouted, “Vive le Roi!” (Yes I know it’s French for King, but work with me here, it works so well for my story!)
Pardoe: Life of Louis XIV., vol. iii. p. 457.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the captain of the bodygaurd for Advertising, so the task of announcing the death of advertising is not among my responsibilities. Nor is finding a successor to the throne. No, I do the less glorious task of search engine marketing. I’m quietly on the sidelines as Dot Bomb after Dot Gone pass by in a funeral procession that seems endless. The parade route marching to the funeral dirge and drum, glumly trudging through the streets mark the passing of online royalty on a weekly basis.
Every week we bow our heads in honor of the passing of another advertising-reliant giant. Today it’s WebGiant, before that it was WebVan and WebMD and Wine.com — I’m starting at the bottom of a very long alphabetical list, as you no doubt know.
The deathmarch itself has been analyzed-to-death by everyone from network news anchors to newspaper commentators and pundits.
I won’t burden us with another perspective here other than to say that it’s big business that has it all wrong in a twisted attempt to apply old models to a new medium. I wonder why it is that each new technology is constantly wedged into the wrong shape hole because that is “where the money is”.
When television was first developed, we didn’t know what to do with it because advertising was not so ubiquitous. We had print advertising in magazines and radio advertisement ruled the airwaves. But everyone agreed that television was worthless . . .
Not more than 10 per cent of the population will take up television permanently. Raymond Postgate, 1935
Television? The word is half Greek and half Latin. No good will come of this device. C P Scott, 1936
Television won’t last because people will get tired of staring at a plywood box every night. Darryl Zanuck, 20th Century Fox co-founder, 1946
Not more than 10 per cent of the population will take up television permanently. Raymond Postgate, 1935
Television? The word is half Greek and half Latin. No good will come of this device. C P Scott, 1936
Television won’t last because people will get tired of staring at a plywood box every night. Darryl Zanuck, 20th Century Fox co-founder, 1946
But TV finally fell to advertising and is now fully one-third ads and very little content, except for product placement and sponsored content.
But because advertising ruled our lives when the internet was launched in 1995, we just naturally assumed that advertising would rule online as well. But we got it wrong. I spend hours online daily and do all I can to ignore the flashing, blinking banners and skyscraper ads and sponsored links glaring from the top, bottom and now edges, of the screen in front of me.
How do people behave online? Simple, they search. They search for things they have an interest in. They bookmark favorites. Most don’t know why they get the results they do when searching.
It’s because the top ranking sites in search results are very specifically designed by people who know how to gain those top rankings in the search engines. Why on earth would anyone spend good money on advertising when most web surfers seek to avoid advertising and even buy software meant to block advertising from their web pages? Why on earth don’t more businesses see that search engine positioning is the number one solution to visibility and success online?
Here comes another funeral.com march. I’ll bet they had Super Bowl ads and have banners flashing all over my favorite web site. Oh and look! They have banner ads on the hearse! I guess they didn’t want to waste the eyeballs attending the funeral. At least they aren’t animated banners. Have some Respect!
Well, I’m going to usurp the job of the Captain of the Kings’ bodygaurd and announce that “Advertising is Dead!”
“La ROI publicit? est mort!” (Ad Return On Investment)
“Long live Search Engine Positioning!” Viva le ROI! Viva le SEO!
Author Bio:
Mike Banks Valentine is a Search Engine Optimization specialist practicing ethical small business SEO Search Engine Placement, Optimization, Marketing.
Small business webmasters often believe search engine optimization is a complex and mysterious art that they must struggle to understand and master. It couldn’t be further from the truth. SEO is basic and simple – TEXT.
As a search engine optimizer, I’m faced daily with the errors of well-meaning webmasters who have unknowingly done their best to hide their site and its topic from the search engines. They do this by naming image files with numbers or word fragments unrelated to the image. They have splash page with an image named “product.gif” containing no “Alt” tags, no text and a link to their inside page named “intro.html” which is full of images!
Even if you use the most basic of web authoring software, SEO can be built in to your site simply by naming your HTML files with important keyword phrases, naming the image directory with more important keyword phrases dropping those same keyword phrases into headlines and body text. Oh, and let’s do have body text of at least 500 words. Many site owners seem to believe that a few product photos and a nice looking logo will suffice.
Wrong. You must have text using keyword phrases within your site or the search engines have no way of knowing what those products or services are that you sell.
Text is all that the search engines have to determine what your site is about. Text in your metatags, text in your headline, text in your body copy, text in image filenames and text in your domain name and directory names. SEO is all about words on the page NOT images of words in gorgeous graphics created by your designer and displayed in IMAGES of words in fancy fonts. This includes those menu links from image maps and buttons.
I have a new client whose resort has been positively written up in dozens of national magazines. I was glad to see links to those articles within their site until I clicked on one and got an IMAGE of the magazine page instead of text from the magazines. Many magazines do not allow reproducing their content without licensing, but all allow a limited quote with attribution along with links from the quote to the article on their site.
Those quotes would serve as dramatic testimonials for the client and there are dozens of important keyword phrases in those rave reviews that would be good stuff for both the search engines and the site visitors. Even if there were only one paragraph from each of the dozen great reviews on a single page, that TEXT would be just what the search engine doctor ordered. This will be our first move in working with this new client.
I’ve got another client that sends out press releases on a regular basis discussing their latest partnership or new product. These press releases are chock full of keyword phrases and important industry lingo and buzz- words. The catch? They distribute these press releases as PDF files and serve them to visitors via FTP, which essentially hides them from the search engines! Their partners then distribute them via FTP as well because that is how they received it. This strategy cheats my client out of links from their partners because those press releases are NOT posted as HTML pages anywhere!
The thing that I always emphasize to new clients is that search engines read text that appears on their web page only. Search engines don’t read images or pretty graphics, they can only make assumptions based on those image names and the image “alt” tags. Try doing an image search at Google for “logo” and see what you get. Now try an image search for common words to compare the filenames used to describe those images. Search for any number combination and you’ll see how common numbers are as image filenames.
Try another image search for keyword phrases that are important to your industry and I’ll wager that is your competition. If you take an extra step and review the filenames in the URL that appear directly below those results describing where that keyword named image turns up. I’ll bet the competitors who are tops in non image searches for similar important keyword phrases use those phrases in image filenames, directory names and domain names.
I’ve had clients that get their site redesigned soon after I’ve done site optimization who come back to me asking why their search engine rankings dropped.
Inevitably their site designer has not only used word fragments or numbers as image and page filenames, but removed hyperlinks from important keyword phrases in body text, text that was maintained at our instruction. Text hyperlinks are another important ingredient to SEO that designers dislike because it changes text colors in order to help visitors know it’s hyperlinked phrase.
Although designers and search engine optimizers rarely work together, they should be required to. Even though the SEO’s job would simply be to type keyword phrases in the “save as” box because designers won’t do it on their own. If a copywriter is hired, they should work with the SEO as well, although the SEO’s job would be only to convince the copywriter that it’s OK, indeed is necessary, to use keyword phrases more than a single time. Copywriters don’t like repeating themselves and often pride themselves on saying the same thing in various creative ways. Search engines don’t yet fully support using a thesaurus to determine page content.
Author Bio:
Mike Banks Valentine is a Search Engine Optimization specialist practicing ethical small business SEO Search Engine Placement, Optimization, Marketin
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