What is the purpose of the Description Meta Tag?

I got this great question on DentalTown.com and thought it was worth reposting here.


Quote: (dentmom)

Mike, we use WordPress for our site and they added an SEO feature for our template where I can do my own tags so I'm starting down that road. In your book (p52) you give instructions on how to do a description tag. You use your own site as an example and on one line it says "See before & after pictures of actual cases".   I wouldn't have thought patients would search on "Before and Afters"  so have you pinpointed that they are (which is why those words are in your description) or is it just part of the overall summary you are trying to create? I'm finding it harder than I thought to do descriptions for each page.


Great question, Sandi!

The description tag serves two purposes, actually. The first is an SEO function, which is to provide another place for key words that match up with the web surfer's search terms. And, yes... visitors to my website used "before and after" in their search several hundred times in the last year.

But, there is a second purpose for the description tag. It's not a place to just stuff keywords. It's something searchers will READ when choosing which link to click on when perusing a page of search results.  It is definitely worth the effort to create unique tags for EACH page.

So, you want to have some good keywords in it, but you ALSO want it to be readable by searchers and to be MEANINGFUL. It should compel the searcher to choose your link over the others on the search results page. Make sense? Let me see if I can come up with some examples.

OK... searched for "porcelain veneers boynton beach." Of the 10 results on the first page, I've got #'s 1 - 4. OK... here's one of my listings. Notice that in both the title and descriptions, the keywords are bolded.

Now... think like a consumer as you read my listing above. Then compare it to another listing on the same page of results. (I've blurred the names to protect the guilty!):

As you read this (again as a consumer), is it as compelling? Which are you more likely to click on? This is where it doesn't matter so much if you're #1 or #5 on the first page. Even if the 2nd example was listed higher than mine, I believe mine would get more clicks.

OK... Let's search for a more mundane service like "root canals boynton beach." In this search, I got #1 and #2 in the search results page. Let's look at my #1 listing:

What?? Root canals feel GOOD?? That's crazy talk! But, it's definitely an attention-getter, right? The third sentence is also a very succinct summary of the BENEFITS of root canal treatment. Who wouldn't want to click on this one, eh? Again... notice that the keywords are bolded. So, my description tag has good keyword density AND is readable by humans as a coherent marketing message.

Now... here's a listing by a local endodontist. Again, names blurred to protect the guilty.

What is compelling about this listing? As a consumer... between the two listings.... which would you click on first?

Hopefully, this will help explain how meta tag strategies can be a BIG part of your website effectiveness. And, that can translate to significant revenues.

Thanks for the great question! This is the kind of stuff you MUST know about when you hire someone to create your website. If they don't do it for you, and you don't know about it... You are flying blindly and LOSING MONEY. Educate yourself with The Complete Website Owner's Manual for Dentists.

Mike

Compelling Content.... matters more than a pretty website

Sometimes, dentists will look at my practice website and snicker over the home-spun appearance and content. Dentists, generally, like websites that have cool special effects and fancy flash animated graphics. We dentists like shiny things and cool gizmos. So, we tend to think like dentists when it comes to marketing. Most dentists create or pay for marketing that appeals to dentists rather than consumers.

Dentists ooh and ah over websites that have "splash intros." Those are the landing pages that will have an animated movie of sorts. It could be an animated artist's brush painting the dentist's name or dancing teeth, for example. Sometimes you'll see one of those little "loading" progress bars with the percentage going up over many seconds, or even minutes.

Here's a clue about those "splash pages." NOBODY likes them! (except dentists) So, unless you're marketing to have dentists as patients, dispense with the fancy moving graphic intro pages!! Believe me when I say that they serve ONLY to ANNOY the typical consumer searching for a dentist. As soon as they see they have to WAIT to get to the INFORMATION they seek, they will hit the back button and find it elsewhere.

Yes, I know there's a little tiny "skip intro" or "enter now" link they can click on. Problem is... THEY DON'T CARE! They won't click on the "skip intro" link. You're making them jump through hoops to get to the information they're looking for.

Content is KING. And, yes, I'm repeating myself. But, a new patient I saw today confirms this and makes repetition of the concept worthwhile. This new patient hasn't seen a dentist in about 10 years. He realizes that he really needs to see a dentist. So, he goes to Google and starts to do his homework.

Even though my website came up #1 on the Google search results page, he visited FIFTEEN other dentist's websites. He didn't want to overlook anything. He picked mine as the winner. WHY? The content in my site was more compelling. He said he felt like he knew me already. And, THAT is the key!

The problem with most commercially created dental websites is that they are simply generic boiler-plate content. They've got no emotion behind the content. They're just dental encyclopedias. The dentist typically didn't contribute anything other than his / her name to fill in the blanks.

Today's new patient told me that after visiting my website, he felt like he knew me. He knew I was "the right dentist." I don't know which other (fifteen) sites he visited, but I suspect they were of the generic variety. When he walked into my office for the first time, it was already familiar, since my website represents it very well and TRUTHFULLY. Nothing fancy. No flashy animated graphics or special effects. It's homespun and believable.

My website has some video of me speaking, which I'm sure helps project my personality and philosophy. Click here for more info on putting this type of video on your website.  All the photos on my site are of actual patients representing my actual work. There are testimonials from real people with real names (rather than anonymous initials that could represent a phony testimonial). All of these things build tremendous credibility.

The "take home message" here is that you MUST contribute to creating the content of your website. Sure... hire a website designer to build the structure of your site. But, you need to be involved in writing the content. Don't get hung up on the appearance. Sure, make it nice. But, in the end, the CONTENT is what will compel the visitor to TAKE ACTION, which is to call for an appointment (or make an email appointment request).

The reason to have a website is to drive new patients to your practice. In order to be successful, there are three necessary steps:

1. Get visitors TO your website.

2. KEEP visitors ON your website with compelling content. And, that's today's sermon.

3. CONVERT visitors into patients by getting those visitors to take action.

That's all for now! To learn more check out The Complete Website Owner's Manual for Dentists.