MISTAKE 3: Not using the Meta Description or just using 'any text' for it.

7 Deadly SEO Mistakes, Part 3:
Using the Meta Description or
just using "any text" for it.

Welcome Back!

Today I want to jump right in and continue where we left off with Part 2 of our course (if you missed it get it here).

Today's lesson is entitled:

Deadly SEO Mistake #3 - Not using the Meta Description or just using "any text" for it.

As before, if you want to read this part of your course online, we've got another killer Video Case Study from the StomperNet success vaults for you.

Click Image Above to Play

Click above for the video, or you can read this entry of the course here in this email and save the case study video for later. (You don't want to skip it, we promise!)

Most Webmasters don't include the Meta Description tag because they think, "Google is just going to pull the information they want anyway. It's useless."

That's incorrect. All you have to do is give Google a little assistance and you could have your Meta Description tag pulled by Google every time.

The biggest thing you want to avoid is a rambling, say-nothing Description, which includes ellipses. Take eHealthInsurance as an example:

You would think that a company like eHealthInsurance would "get it" but they don't. Did you know that Titles and Descriptions with ellipses generally have lower click through rates?

It's true.

What does a good one look like?

Not only is the Description strong and compelling, it includes the phone number as well, so it could generate a phone call without even generating a click. Is that good? Absolutely. Get a prospect on the phone and they are as good as closed.

Here are recommendations for a great Meta Description tag:

Avoid ellipses by having 150 characters or less (if it helps, 25 words or less).
Make sure your Description is unique even to your own site.
Try including some of your offers, guarantees, and even try putting in your phone number to get Call of Action included into your Meta Description.

Your first order of business is to convert the "looker" into a "clicker." Keyword proximity, meaning how close it is to the front of the Description, is not as important as it once was.

Recommendation: Change the Description Tags to a shorter, more compelling Description that includes your keyword phrase and the clickthrough rates will increase. Testing results show that unless your keyword phrase appears in your Meta Description, Google won't use your Description in the SERPs.

Instead, it will pull from the content of your site and often "Frankenstein" it (pull two different sentences of content and "mesh" them together into one).

The above example by Avis is interesting, as the Meta Description seems to be very clear, concise and to the point. This is a great example of what to do. Keep it simple.

Example of What Not to do:

The example below is for the keyword phrase, "discount online furniture." While this could be a classic example of a great Title, look at the Description. Do you see how HTML is included (p align....)? That is a clear example of Google "Frankensteining" the Description from available text. There is nothing compelling about that!

Succeeding on Accident:

Microsoft has an 86 word Description ... not 86 characters, but 86 words. But they got lucky as the Description ends in the Google SERPs perfectly and completes a statement. However, according to testing, just having ellipses will lower the clickthrough rate slightly.

Let's take a step back and see where we've gotten so far. You should already be focusing your SEO efforts ONLY on the keywords you've TESTED, so you KNOW they can make you money.

You should have a killer title tag that tells the searcher you have EXACTLY what they're looking for.

And now we've polished up your description, so it should only convince searchers even further that you're worth the click because they're ready to BUY!

So where do we go now?

Now it's time to start obsessing over your content, right? Making sure you use your keywords the PERFECT number of times? Putting the EXACT right number of words in between them? RIGHT?

Wrong.

Next time we tell you how and why you can completely avoid that obsession with keyword density, so you can be free to just create compelling content for your visitors. Content that sells.

Keep an eye out for Part 4, hitting your inbox very, very soon!

Until next time,
Keep Stomping!

~Andy Jenkins and the
StomperNet Faculty and Staff

Coming Next: "Deadly SEO Mistake #4:
Obsessing over Keyword Density"

Don't Miss "Going Natural 6 Part 3: Next Level SEO"

This time, StomperNet Faculty Dan Thies will tell you how you can get on Google's "Insider Mailing List" and be the first to know when they start messing with your rankings.

This new SEO video is available right here.

Make time to watch it TODAY!

If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click the link below:
Unsubscribe

StomperNet, LLC
3870 Peachtree Industrial Blvd S150-353
Duluth, Georgia 30096
United States
US: 888-325-7845 - International: +1 404-348-4401