One of the first things a searcher is going to see about your Web site is your meta description. This is a highly important thing for drawing traffic to your Web site. A well written meta description can make them pause on your search engine listing, and maybe even click the link. A poorly written one will get passed by with scarcely a second thought.
Many Web site owners ignore the meta description. This is essentially leaving your first impression at the tender mercies of the search engines. They will create one for you if you don't, and you wouldn't have any say about what it is.
What you will probably wind up with is a bunch of disjointed information in your meta description. A collection of non sequiturs for a first glance at your page does not make a good impression.
Consequently, a lot of thought should be put into your meta description. It is, after all, a browser's first impression of your site. It should, in 150 words or less, provide an adequate description of your sites contents. Google can handle up to 160 words, but it's best not to push it. You don't want an ellipse at the end of your meta tag.
Naturally, your meta description should be relevant to your site's content. It should have no content in it that doesn't relate. If your meta description says 'football' when you mostly cover 'chess' in your content, you're going to lose your targeted traffic.
The meta description should also elaborate on your title tag. Essentially, it ties your title tag to your site's content, so be sure that it relates both ways. Ultimately, it may be easier to change your title tag than your meta description if it's a tough bridging.
Keywords have a special place in a meta description. They show up in bold print on the search results page. A fine balance has to be met here. You want to have enough keywords in it to rank well on the search engines, but you don't want to do any keyword stuffing. Whatever you think about this old black hat technique, it makes for an unappealing meta description.
Speaking of which, it would also be a good idea to look at the meta description on other Web pages in your niche. It's easier to borrow elements of someone else's summary than to completely create your own. Also, you can find out what everyone else is using for keywords these days.
Of course, when I say to borrow elements from others, it doesn't mean that you should copy it verbatim. Your meta description, as well as your title tag should still be unique. If this wasn't an important factor, we could effectively automate SEO and be done with it. All the same, that's no way to stand out from the crowd.
With all this in mind, it's not all that hard to create an effective meta description. It only takes a little bit of work, but it means a great deal in increasing your traffic.
Author Resource:-
Ten years of extensive internet marketing experience. Former CEO of a multi-million marketing and sales company that placed twice on Inc. Magazine's Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing companies in America.www.shawncasey.com
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