Can using an exact sentence from your content as meta description hurt?
-
Hi Mozzers!
I'm uploading some press releases and the first sentence makes a perfect meta description. Would using the exact same wording ever hurt my rankings?
Thanks!
-
OK, now you don't want some very aggressive call to action sentence. I'd try to avoid words like "best", "leading" etc.
Try to describe what your website offers in a sentence.
-
This wont hurt at all. In fact, Google often uses a snippet from your content as the meta description.
With a meta description, your goal is to optimize for a click. So for that reason, the first sentence may not be you're best option.
-
Agreed, thanks for chiming in Chris!
-
Nope. Your description should help enhance your click through rate, though, so orient it towards a call to action.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Which is more important - exact match on two pages with slightly similar content or completely unique content but no exact match?
I want to rank for two terms - one is the abbreviation and one is the actual phrase (think UX and user experience). Is it better to create two separate pages to benefit from the exact match keyword (given that the content is 51% unique) or should I work both the acronym and the phrase into one page? If I made the two pages, I could get in a lot more longtail keywords, however it's my belief that I should make one really robust page to ensure all possible link equity and user signals aren't split. Is this a valid argument or does the power of exact match keywords override the need for user signals?
Keyword Research | | DigitalMarketingSEO0 -
Ecommerce: How to do best product content piece - include competitors?
Hello, A client runs an Ecommerce store. Doing a "best running shoes" type piece of content in our industry. I (the SEO) want to be 10X better than the first listing and be honest and fit intent by including all "running shoes" from all internet suppliers (including nofollow links). It's about 8-10 names. We could list us first when we carry a product. like 6 other site's products 4 of ours, listing who carries the product with our site listed first if we do. We have some of the best. The meta description and top of the article would be like. We analyzed 23+ sites and made some hard conclusions.... But wait, one of the owners doesn't want to list competitor site names even if they are nofollow or even just text. She only wants to include items from our store. I would have to rename the content "Our Top 5 products" and it would be a mismatch in intent and keywords for "best running shoes" and just be for our customers. What is the most proper SEO thing to do to attack "best running shoes" (if appropriate)keeping in mind long terms sales? The owner wants to hear your suggestions as well. And is a "best" keyword sometimes competition? Thanks.
Keyword Research | | BobGW1 -
Title keyword and synonyms in content ?
what is the % relation in between a keyword in title and that given keyword's synonyms in a content of that page? if i use the keyword "apple pie" on a page title once, what should be % of reappearance of this keyword in the content ? and its synonyms in relation to the entire content on that page. thank you
Keyword Research | | orion680 -
What came first the content or the keyword research?
So I've been searching high and low to try and answer this. I just cant seem to get this part down and i know its the most important part. I always run into the issue where i am building a e commerce or some other site and i have it all set up but no content. So i start doing keyword research. In which the market niche that i am working on now is really broad, so its really hard to research. I then end up getting frustrated because the competition for the words are really high. But back on track, i get frustrated and then kaboom! i don't get the results i want and i am back to square one and no content is made or nothing. So my webpage gets nothing. So i took a step back and wondered, should i make all the content first and then the keyword research and then go back and "revise" my website content with all my keywords that i a trying to target? Sounds like a dumb question but i just wanted feedback and input on how people do this and go forth with everything.
Keyword Research | | Dante130 -
Can I get your input on keyword usage in the title tag
Hello fellow mozzers! I've been struggling with my title tag and would like to get your opinion. We provide IT services in the Los Angeles area. I've been doing keyword research for the past week and found about 400 keywords from various sources. I then looked at my top 5 competitors on Google and analyzed their homepage title tags, the most common keywords that they use in their title tags are: IT Support Los Angeles
Keyword Research | | igor.pinchevskiy
Computer Support Los Angeles
Network Consulting Los Angeles
Network Support Los Angeles
IT Services Los Angeles Since it is recommended to have your title tag under 70 characters I've compiled the following title tag for my home page: IT Services, Network Consulting, IT and Network Support in Los Angeles which is exactly 70 characters, however my company name is an additional 9 characters, I think it would be wise to include in the title tag of the home page however I can't decide if I should exceed the limit by including the company name to the title tag or should I remove something from the title tag and then add the company name? 1. What do you guys think, is that a good title tag to use as is? 2. Should I add the company name without removing any keywords or remove a keyword? 3. I'm trying to target local traffic since I can't compete with the big dogs yet, so I want to be in the SERPs when someone searches IT Services Los Angeles, IT Support Los Angeles, etc... Do I need to add Los Angeles after each keyword, or I can use a single instance of Los Angeles like in the example title tag that I have? 4. For the other remaining 400+/- keywords I want to use some of them to create static pages and some for blog posts, is that the way to go? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated!!! Thank you!!!0 -
Broad Vs. Exact Match
My question seems basic in nature but some recent keyword research has caused me to re-think broad vs. exact match. I was taught to focus on exact match for the short term and broad match for the long term prospects of a keyword. Today I was researching a niche of keyword phrases where the local search volume (broad) was, for example 33,000. The local search volume (exact) was only 500. What I know about broad vs. exact doesn't help me to determine if this keyword is worth going after. The keyword difficulty score by the way was 35% Yes, I do know that I will probably go after this keyword anyway but to refine my question, how do I get an idea of how "big" this keyword is? Is it more on the broad or more on the exact match of things? How do I determine the various derivatives of the phrase that occur under the broad match?
Keyword Research | | leaseman0 -
Using keywords targeted on one page, on another page?
This has been bugging me for awhile. I am trying to build up some great evergreen/cornerstone content for my site. It's basic stuff that just needs to be there. This problem is affecting me already, and I fear that when I get the main content done I will run into the problem when I start blogging for fresh content. The best way to explain this, is to use an example. Imagine a Jewelry store in a major metro. They are already ranking for a few "city + keyword" combos but are looking to expand their keyword reach and get some better rankings. They might have a page on diamonds, and target "city + diamonds." Then, lets say they are writing about Jewelry and you target a page on "city + jewelry" and on this page, it can be hard to write normal sounding content without saying diamond. AKA "We make shopping for "city + jewelry" super easy. You select a diamond, select your "setting, city + jewelry, or something"" What I would like to know, is if I should go crazy with the targeting and just write about "city + jewelry" on one page, for instance, and make sure not to just mention "diamond" and then make a sub-page or something to target "city + diamond + jewelry" Does any of that make sense? Edit for clarity - targeted keyword phrases bolded - I left my ramble above for historical and comedic purposes. It is hard to talk about jewelry without including some really (basic terms/keywords) that I am targeting on other pages. Is this going to be a problem? I might have a page on engagement rings, and another on diamonds probably targeted to the local area. Later, I might decide to write a blog titled "10 Reasons you need to buy an Engagement Ring" Should I alter that blog to be called "10 Reasons you need to buy a Diamond Engagement Ring" and try not to mention just the word diamond(s) or engagement ring(s) so that I don't confuse the almighty Google? Please advise
Keyword Research | | steven880 -
''furnace filter'' or ''furnaces filters'' Broad or Exact???
Those keywords are the one that will bring the most traffics. They are the one I should use, what will be your recommendations for bring more traffic to home page, using furnace filters or furnace filters? These are the results from Keytools Google: furnace filter (broad local search local): 12,100 furnace filter (exact mach local search) 390 furnace filters (broad local search): 5,400 furnace filters (exact mach local search): 880 After selecting one keyword, should I optimize one page for the other keyword? Thank you for your help. BigBlaze
Keyword Research | | BigBlaze2050