Using Product Descriptions in Meta Description
-
Hi All
We have over 10000 Products and a while ago we spent some time adding Product Descriptions to the Product Pages, For Example we have
Product - Black Snazaroo Face Paint
Product Description - Great for Childrens parties, fundraising events, Halloween or other festive faces. An easy makeup to apply and remove. All Snazaroo face paints are Non toxic, Fragrance free and Skin friendly. Snazaroo is suitable for all skin types, however it is always recommended you do a skin patch test on a small area before full application.
Unfortuantly our Meta Descriptions really need some work, for example this same page contains the following meta descriptions
We realise this could be holding our site back.
Is it ok to use the same Product Description inside the Meta Description Tags also, for example can we use the Meta Description for this Page -
Thanks
-
Thank you Everybody for taking the time to Answer our Question
-
Its a tough call. Honestly I think it comes down to "Is it worth the time to optimize every page?" I would say yes, if you have the financial ability to do so. I don't think that Google looks at pages individualistically, and looks at the entire site as a whole. If you increase the entire quality score of your site, that will help you more than optimizing a few, or even in your case a few hundred pages. Chances are your competitors will not be going through the same amount of SEO work, and your site ranking will improve. We have tested this theory on many ecommerce sites hosted by us, and seen excellent results. Many smaller websites out rank the leaders like Home Depot, Ebay, Amazon, etc consistantly.
For your meta descriptions I would do something more like:
I know Matt Cutts states that meta descriptions don't have an impact on ranking, but I just flat out don't agree. Depending upon what you search for, you can clearly see the bolded and highlighted words in the link URLs, description, page title etc. Look at the bolded words in the sample above to think of what the description covers.
1. Childrens face paint
2. Halloween face paint
3. Black face paint
4. Face paintIf you so choose, you could also leave the descriptions blank, as long as your on-page descriptions absolutely rock. One rule we always follow internally: "You never know where Google will pull content from, so make sure anywhere they can is awesomely optimized" This would include titles, meta, on page, keywords, everything. Hope this helps!
-
According to Matt Cutts, "... there are really only two viable options. You can either have unique metatag descriptions, or you can choose not to put any metatag description at all. Definitely don’t have duplicate metatag descriptions."
Often the best approach for e-commerce sites is to leave meta descriptions blank. Google will dynamically create them using text it derives from your page content, often highlighting the user's own search terms. I say that b/c: (a) it's a huge effort to come up with unique meta descriptions for thousands of products; (b) allowing Google to create them better ensures searchers will see their own search terms fed back to them in search results; and (c) thereby increases click thru rates.
-
Meta descriptions do not effect your page optimization in the sense that a search engine is effected by it, but it will effect how often people click to your site as the meta description is the copy a person is shown. You should make your descriptions informative and truthful so that it accurately portrays what each page has to offer giving a potential visitor the best ability to judge what content will be on the page (and thereby lowering bounces/re-searches). This being said you should write custom meta descriptions, not just let it truncate content already on your page. I would start with products that are relevant to the most used keywords and work backwards, if you dedicate yourself to doing at least 20 descriptions a week you will have all of your legacy products done in a year.
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
-
Will SEO Blogs Divert Traffic from Main Web pages using same keywords?
Our company has drafted several SEO blogs using certain keywords. If we post these SEO blogs to our website and social media channels , and the blog keywords are also used on our main website pages, will the blogs divert or dilute traffic to our main web pages? Thank you for your expertise and insights in advance.
Content Development | | Johnenchroma0 -
Two pages for, essentially, the same product.
My client currently has a page on their website that advertises one of their products. The product in question is manufactured by someone else but branded by my client. Recently, the manufacturer have released their own version with their own branding which is available to the public. My client has decided that they are going to stock both their own version and the manufacturers version of the product to avoid losing any sales. This have left us with trying to find the best way to add the new product to the site without it competing with my clients own product in search engine results. We want the page to be indexed so that people searching for the manufacturers product can still find it on our site but at the same time we risk cannibalisation and essentially having two pages with what will essentially be the same content. Does anyone have any ideas for a suitable solution? I am unsure whether we should create a new page for the new product or whether we should somehow incorporate the new product in to the existing page.
Content Development | | BallyhooLtd0 -
Can someone PLEASE help me find a solution to use a custom search engine for iPhones?? Thanks in advance!
Hey mozzers, I'm in quite the pickle today and would really appreciate some help! i need a way to have my members set their default custom search engine on their iPhones and androids to our sites search engine. Google chrome does on desktops but not iPhones. Thanks for your time/help, Tyler Abernethy
Content Development | | TylerAbernethy0 -
What is your take on using Google images for blogs
In your opinion, do you think it is okay to use Google images for your blog posts as long as it credits or includes a link to the site in which you located it? We tried looking at stock art for some license-free photos and had no luck in coming up with good pictures. What rules or guidelines do you follow when looking for pictures for your customers blog (or your own)? A lot of our posts have to do with "what to do in this city" or "Where to go in this city". Do you think it's okay to use Google images for these types of posts?
Content Development | | qlkasdjfw0 -
Http://www.social-bookmarking.net is it good platform to use
I am just looking at different ways to attract traffic and i would like to know if anyone uses http://www.social-bookmarking.net and if so do they feel it is good for gaining traffic. i have used it before but never gained anything from it so maybe i am using it wrong, would love to hear your thoughts on it
Content Development | | ClaireH-1848860 -
If I write a article for a client and use Social Book Marking software, will this add value (or does the value depend on how ofen it gets shared)?
I'm about to start experimenting with bookmarking software. My first step is trying Ping.com (because it's free), but I am also keen to try Onlywire.com (which comes at a cost- darn). My questions are: when I create an article for a client and post to all these social sites will this make a difference? Or will it only make a difference if people share the article? Has anyone been experimenting with social bookmarking software that can tell me what results they have had and how they got there? Thanks a mil!
Content Development | | 2Stroke0 -
Does anyone have some examples of Ecommerce websites that have great product reviews that are SEO friendly?
I am trying setup product reviews on an Ecommerce site and was wondering if there were some good websites to create a model around that is SEO friendly. Right now my reviews are in a separate directory off the review (http://www.example.com/review/product/etc) and I would like my reviews to be attributed to the product page to add in free, fresh, unique content that contains valuable information for both the user and SEO (new keyword derivatives). Also any suggestions on getting users to leave reviews? Whether it is a monetary incentive/coupon or a free method (of course this is preferred :)) Thanks in advance!
Content Development | | ResponseMine0 -
Duplicate Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, is it a problem?
Hi, If i use same terms of use and privacy policy content across my websites, does it amounts to duplicate content issues? Does it affect my websites in any manner? Regards
Content Development | | IM_Learner0