Don't throw your description away completely - it's still a valuable asset!

Although Google no longer uses the description tag, or ever did, the description tag still performs a valuable contribution in your SEO (search engine optimization) or more accurately, your SEM (search engine marketing) tactics.

Last October 2009, Matt Cutts, head of Google's Webspam team, confirmed, in a Q&A session that Google does not use the keywords tag as a factor in their search algorithm.

That was not really news as it has been known for a long time but he also confirmed that the description tag is also not a factor when ranking pages in search page results (serps).

But, he also confirmed that when appropriate or relevant they will and do include content from the description tag below the page title in results pages.

And why is that important?

It's important because if you have worked hard enough, through your SEO activities, to get a page 1 spot in Google there are 9 of your competitors also there trying to take YOUR potential and hard earned customer for themselves!

So, having a good, relevant snippet displayed below your listed page title can make the difference between a clickthrough and a successful sale or losing that opportunity to a competitor who worked that little bit harder!

But, how do you do that?

It's not by magic, the black arts, nor is it rocket science - it's by writing a good and relevant description of the page content and using your pages targeted keywords constructively and appropriately in the copy.

There is no need to stuff all the keywords you can think of as it will appear unreadable to the searcher and likely have the opposite affect to your desired one! As Google disregards it for ranking purposes it primary and only function is to entice the viewer to click on your listed result.

So it needs to be relevant and readable.

As an example, here's a Google search for a piece of jewellery sold by one of our clients Pebbles Jewellery. The term in first image is part of the full product title: 18ct White and Rose Gold Entwined Ring with Diamonds

As you would expect with such a long-tail search, the top result is their product page, but the important point is that the full 155 characters shown as a snippet below the title is taken from the entered description tag copy. It contains a good number of the entered search terms. Google has deemed that it is the best relevant content to use as the full snippet.

Unlike the second result which is not the page meta description but taken from othe areas of the page. The page meta description:-

< meta name="description" content="Exquisite sapphire ring collection from the Astley Clarke jewellery boutique. Including engagement rings, wedding rings and cocktail rings. Beautifully gift wrapped, next day delivery." / >

which would have been their preferred one!

The same is seen for a full variation of entered keywords returning the same search result:-

1. 18ct White and Rose Gold Entwined Ring with Diamonds
2. White and Rose Gold Entwined Ring
3. Rose Gold Entwined Ring
4. Gold Entwined Ring
5. Entwined Ring

So, even in the above search with only a two-word search phrase, with only one of the search terms in the meta description, Google still considers the full entered meta description as the best text to show. It shows that its inclusion in the first search was not solely a result based on such a long-tail search term with more of the entered terms in the description!

As confirmed by Matt Cutts above, Google will and does choose what it considers to be the best and relevant addition to its search results and indeed does use the meta description tag when it conforms to that criteria.

Taken together, a clear and concise page title and your preferred page description, might just be the combination to get that all important first clickthrough!

So, as the bottom line - Don't throw out the description tag with the bathwater just yet!

Tags: Google | Search Marketing | Search Engine Optimisation | SEM | SEO