First of all, what the heck is a meta-description, anyway?

Unlike titles and headers, you’ll never see the meta-description when you’re on a website. It’s only in the code:

<meta name="description" content="A blog by flyte new media about Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, and Web 2.0 snippets everyone is entitled to know." />

Your description should do just that: describe what is on that particular page. Ideally, no two meta-descriptions on your website should be the same.

So why should you have a meta-description?

There’s another place you can see meta-descriptions: search engines.

That’s right. More often than not, you decide what goes there.

From an SEO perspective, the meta-description is where you should include keywords you’re targeting, your geographic location, as well as your contact information (just in case someone is searching on their smart phone and can click on either your phone number or email right then and there.)

From a usability standpoint, the meta-description is where you have the opportunity to entice visitors. What can you say in order to get people to click on your website rather than the competition?

What happens if I don’t have a meta-description?

This is why I said more often than not you choose what goes there. Other times…

• You might have a meta-description, but the searcher’s query didn’t apply to your meta-description. In this case, Google might take a snippet of your copy to display.
• If you don’t have a meta-description at all, again, Google will usually choose applicable bits of your copy.
• I recently noticed Google will pull descriptions from its own Google Directory. So if you have a listing there, make sure the information is accurate and reads like you want it to.

So what are you waiting for? Get going and write those meta-descriptions!

Nicki Hicks
Descriptive is as descriptive does