Google news
Date: 02/09/2010
Henrik, those are all great questions, and I'm sure others will also be interested in the answers.
First, it's important to note that Google will display a different description in its results pages, depending on the keyword phrase that was searched for. Because of this, it's impossible to completely control what will show up as you have no way of knowing every single keyword phrase that someone might use to find your site. The number of different phrases people find your site with is often quite surprising, which makes it a good idea to check your server logs regularly.
So let's look at what circumstances cause Google to display your Meta description as opposed to a plain old "snippet."
It's actually surprisingly simple, yet elegant:
If the keyword phrase searched upon by the user is included in your Meta description tag, then this is what will show up in Google, instead of the usual snippet.
This is why when you find my site on the first page of Google for the phrase search engine optimization, my Meta description shows up -- that phrase is used within my description tag. As long as the *exact phrase* being searched upon is contained in your Meta description tag, it will show up in the search results.
It's as simple as that, and doesn't have anything to do with the PageRank or the authority of the page in question. The same thing should happen for every site under the same circumstances. This is why Meta description tags are still important to use on all of your pages. They don't actually boost your rankings, but they allow you to have better control of the description that shows up for your optimized keyword phrases.
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First, it's important to note that Google will display a different description in its results pages, depending on the keyword phrase that was searched for. Because of this, it's impossible to completely control what will show up as you have no way of knowing every single keyword phrase that someone might use to find your site. The number of different phrases people find your site with is often quite surprising, which makes it a good idea to check your server logs regularly.
So let's look at what circumstances cause Google to display your Meta description as opposed to a plain old "snippet."
It's actually surprisingly simple, yet elegant:
If the keyword phrase searched upon by the user is included in your Meta description tag, then this is what will show up in Google, instead of the usual snippet.
This is why when you find my site on the first page of Google for the phrase search engine optimization, my Meta description shows up -- that phrase is used within my description tag. As long as the *exact phrase* being searched upon is contained in your Meta description tag, it will show up in the search results.
It's as simple as that, and doesn't have anything to do with the PageRank or the authority of the page in question. The same thing should happen for every site under the same circumstances. This is why Meta description tags are still important to use on all of your pages. They don't actually boost your rankings, but they allow you to have better control of the description that shows up for your optimized keyword phrases.
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