The Description Tag Defined

Michael Buczek - May 8, 2008

In our next installment of optimizing Meta Data for a website, we look at the Description Tag. This tag is often the first description of a page the Search Engines and searchers will see. The Search Engines will see it when they crawl the page, and the searchers will see it when they have results displayed in the search results. If this tag is not utilized or left blank, the Search Engines will go else where on the site to find information to give to users in the search results, which means you have no control of what the searcher sees. By writing effective Description Tags, you have the chance to tell the Search Engines, and searcher what your specific page is about.

Tips for writing Effective Description Tags
When writing Description Tags, it is important to keep the searcher in mind. Writing unique and descriptive tags will help convert lookers to clickers. Research what is being displayed for your targeted keyword and then write a description that is appealing and different from the others displayed. This can be difficult so here are some quick tips to help in the process:

– Include Keywords — 2 times if possible. If two times doesn’t make sense or is not readable, don’t force it, once will do.
– Be Unique — What makes you different from your competition? Highlight these aspects in your Description Tag. It is also important to make it unique from all of the other pages on your site. Each page needs a different Description Tag.
– Be Creative — This is your chance to capture your target audience. Think about whom that is and write your tag in a way that will engage them.
– Limit to 180 Characters including spaces.

Like other Meta Tags, Description Tags are just a piece of the SEO pie. You are now one step closer to having a more optimized website.