The Best SEO Technique That’s Not Really SEO

These days, search engine optimization has turned into a wildly complicated practice with significant focus placed on “advanced” tricks and techniques.

It drives me crazy, largely because those tricks and techniques often come at the expense of SEO basics. Case in point: meta descriptions seem to be dying a slow and painful death.

For those unfamiliar, meta descriptions are short teaser summaries that provide potential visitors a brief description of what they’ll find at a particular website. Search engines like Google pull that description and display it directly below the title link of a search result.

Except, of course, when it doesn’t.

Lately, too many SEO experts have abandoned the apparent hassle of composing compelling meta descriptions for their articles, blogs, and web pages.

Without those descriptions, Google simply scrolls the page itself for examples of the search terms within the text. It then pulls an example or two and presents them under the search result, usually in short indecipherable snippets.

Do you really want Google summarizing your content for you?

Most SEO novices know that titles are incredibly important not only to overall optimization and page rank, but also to inspire readers to click on results once Google pulls them up.

But here’s another truth: when most surfers scan search results, the title itself typically causes only a brief pause. In those cases, it’s the text immediately under the title link that will help them decide whether or not to click. That’s where a good meta description can give your page the extra attention it deserves. Quite simply, Aaron Kahlhamer at Wisnet.com describes meta descriptions as a free ad for your webpage within search results.

So, why are so many folks retiring meta descriptions from their SEO practices?

Mainly because meta descriptions and meta keywords have no real effect on search engine page rank anymore. People who have surfed the ‘Net since the early days of AOL probably remember the phenomenon of “spamming the keyword field.” Back then, evil web publishers would load up on as many keywords as possible (even those barely related to the page itself) in an effort to beat the system and boost their rankings.

It didn’t take search engines long to catch on. They subsequently took away any added value those fields used to provide – including meta descriptions. Unfortunately, too many people now mistakenly conclude that meta descriptions have no SEO value. Hey, if it won’t help my page rank, what use is it, right? Wrong!

The biggest mistake a publisher can make is to write strictly for robots.

The goal is to attract people, after all. And a good meta description will help inspire more readers to click on your content.

In a guest post for DIY Marketers, Healy Jones writes that the meta description is the most important SEO tool that most marketers forget. It’s your chance to tell them why you matter and confirm that you’re exactly what they’ve been looking for. Why would you pass up that opportunity?

With that said, here are some tips for writing quality meta descriptions for your pages (which I think should be part of every organization’s overall SEO strategy):

1. Make them compelling. The whole point is to encourage people to click, right? Use action phrases like “Find more information…” or “Learn about X”  to give readers a clear reason to view your page.
2. Use your keywords. Just because meta descriptions don’t count toward page rank doesn’t mean you should just forget about your carefully optimized phrases. Search engines like Google still bold search terms in meta descriptions when pulling results, and these bolded phrases will help attract the eye of the reader. You shouldn’t overdo it, but including your main phrase once in your description is a sound practice.
3. Don’t be too wordy. You only have a few seconds to capture a reader’s attention, so don’t waste any time. Google allows for a maximum of 156 character meta descriptions (in most cases) before they are truncated. Try to fit the main focus of your content within those character limits. Don’t be timid though. Use as many of those characters as you can – anything less is wasted real estate.

Are you convinced yet?

If so, I suggest reading Cory Fletcher’s blog post at Visionberry, which will teach you how to use meta description tags in 2011. The SEO world is constantly changing, so it’s important to stay up-to-date.

This post by David Ball at SilktideBlog is another great resource, providing tips on writing a better meta description. Some of his suggestions include providing a call to action, front-loading the most important words, and being honest about who you are.

Lastly, check out the three meta description mistakes that HubSpot’s Eric Vreeland thinks you might be making. If you’re a violator of any of them, don’t be ashamed. They’re all common mistakes. But don’t hesitate in fixing them.

The meta description isn’t dead. And without one, you’re taking a big risk by allowing Google to make a potentially crucial impression on potential customers for you.

Brendan is a marketing associate and content manager with OpenView Venture Partners. You can  follow him on Twitter @BrenCournoyer and find more from the OpenView team @OpenViewVenture.