Jun 10
24
Google Meta Description Usage Clarified?
In the search marketing industry, we like to believe we’ve got hard and fast rules as to what goes into proper SEO. From the way we choose keywords to the length of page titles, to how often and where best to place links from one page to another and across web sites. The fact however, is that we don’t have direct access to the search engine algorithms, so we need to rely upon our experiences and those of others in the industry we trust. An aspect that we think applies today may not tomorrow. And how that aspect applies may be open for debate, like the Meta Description has, at times, or at least it has, until now? Last week, I posted an article in response to a claim I read where it was reported that Google is now using Meta Descriptions in page relevance . We got a flood of input, both on Twitter and in the comments of that article. Vanessa Fox chimed in, as did Jill Whalen, Edward Lewis, and about a half dozen others. So a few people agreed to join in and test this out… Caveat When it comes to testing things we think might be ranking factors, it’s not possible to test as completely or thoroughly as we’d like simply because we don’t have access to the search engine algorithms, nor do we have the capacity to test under all circumstances without gaining access to the server resources that companies like Google or Microsoft have. Given that reality, we need to make assumptions and break the scientific rule by going with our “best guess”. In my life, I prefer to call this following the intuitive. Most of you probably call it going on instinct, or “a gut feeling”. Then, as more data comes in, or as I can further study what happens after I’ve taken action based on that, I can sometimes gain more knowledge.
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Google Meta Description Usage Clarified?