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