How to Create Effective Page Descriptions
In past issues I've talked about
the importance of your position in the 10 major search engines.
I still preach that if you don't appear in at least the first
two or three pages of matches, you might as well be invisible.
However, some of you worry too much about climbing from position
#3 to #1 and overlook another facet of site promotion that
is every bit as important.
The actual words that make up your listing
in a particular search engine is an advertisement for your
business in and of itself. This Web site description must
be effective and compelling, not just a demonstration of strategic
keyword placement and frequency!
When this particular copy is well written
using some specific techniques that we will describe in a
moment, it can be even more effective in bringing targeted
visitors to your site. Common sense dictates that the effectiveness
of an advertisement is contingent on both the ads placement
AND how compelling the copy is to the reader. Right?
Most search engines provide a two or three
line site description immediately after the "title"
of your site. Now remember, some search engines allow you
to submit your site description to them and others use a "software
spider" to visit your site to take title and site description
text right off of your page. The worst mistake you can make
is to allow the search engine's spider to index text from
your site that is completely irrelevant to your content such
as:
[Back to Home Page] [Product Information]
[Newsletter] [Contact us]
Welcome to Zebra Enterprises, we hope
you'll find us a valuable source of [May 15 97]...
Think about it - when presented with 50
matches from a keyword search, how often would you select
that one? Even if a listing like the one above appears in
the number one spot the reader will skip it and move down
the list. They inevitably choose the one with the most compelling
description, regardless of its position.
I rarely pick the first match. I'll at
least scan the first 10 entries and pick one that looks the
most appealing. Directory services like Yahoo give you the
option to provide the site description. Make sure you type
& proof-read your description in advance so you don't
feel rushed to fill in the field on the submit page.
For most other search engines such as
Iwon, AltaVista, Fast/Alltheweb, Lycos etc. which employ "Spiders"
to index the content of your page automatically, two techniques
are used:
The engine will "Spider" or
scan your page for a Description Meta Tag to use for their
"summary description." Therefore, ALWAYS include
a description Meta Tag on **every** page of your site, NOT
just on the home page. If you have different topics of content
on different pages within your site, you should create a separate
description Meta Tag tailored for each of these pages. As
always include, include keywords in this description as you
do the rest of the page.
Inserting the description tag is easy.
The syntax is as follows:
<META NAME="Description"
CONTENT="My compelling description goes here.">
Put this tag between the <HEAD>
and </HEAD> tag near the top of the page. If you're
using a WYSIWYG editor such as Netscape Gold, you can select
"Document Properties" and enter a page description
in the field that it provides. These editors will then generate
the proper HTML code for you. If you're new to HTML, see the
links at the bottom of this newsletter for additional resources.
*** IMPORTANT NOTE: You
should not exceed 200 characters in the length of the description
Meta Tag.
Some search engines will ignore the Description
Meta Tag and instead extract what it determines is the most
"Relevant" content for the page. Most will extract
the first few sentences from the top of a page. For this reason,
it becomes very important to make sure your leading paragraph
is filled with both keywords and text that would be compelling
to the reader who is reading it on a search engine as your
site's description. Avoid copy at the top of a page that is
uninviting when viewed as a search engine's description of
your site such as "Welcome to our site" or "The
following content was created by Bob Wastespace and Karen
Fillerman."
To avoid the problem of irrelevant text
in that summary paragraph such as items on your main menu,
create a simple "optimized page" that includes a
link to your home page, but excludes extra text like menu
links.
Occasionally search engine spiders will
extract a chunk of text in the middle of your page that says
nothing of interest to the reader and may not even be an appropriate
description of your site! This can be maddening. The solution
is simple, though - conduct a search for your site in each
search engine and check to be sure this description is meaningful
and consistent with the content of your Web site.
You could be surprised to find that even
for keywords that you rank well under, the site description
returned is hardly compelling, and often cryptic. Once you
identify the problem, you can redesign the page or create
a new doorway page which includes only text you want the engine
to display. Don't forget to have a link to the rest of your
site though. You wouldn't be the first camper who built a
terrific doorway page to achieve a good listing and forgot
to have that page link to the rest of your site!
Monitoring your page descriptions for
even a handful of keywords on a number of search engines becomes
extremely time consuming. This is precisely why we developed
a Summary description report in the WebPosition product. WebPosition
not only reports your positions, but addresses the second
key element to increasing your traffic:
WebPosition shows you your Web site's
page descriptions from each search engine, for all your keyword/phrase
queries, engine by engine, all on one convenient screen. Whether
you choose to check these descriptions manually (and spend
quite a few hours doing it), or automatically with a tool
like WebPosition, your next step is to improve those summary
descriptions. To accomplish this we look to tried and true
copy writing techniques.
How To Write A Site Description That Reels
In Visitors:
While the following title and description
may get you a high ranking for a keyword search on the word
"mortgage":
! AAA Mortgage banking, the Mortgage
money lenders - Mortgage, lenders, money, mortgages,
mortgage money, mortgage loans, home equity loans, mortgage
money,
...what it says is entirely unappealing.
Instead, look at another site description, that would also
be ranked high, and see which site you would be more likely
to visit:
Mortgages Approved Overnight!!
- Mortgages and mortgage financing secrets that large banks
don't want you to know. Learn the 10 ways that we can approve
your mortgage in 24 hours, even if you have poor credit!
The listing above has the word "mortgage"
as the first word of the title, the first word of the description
and repeats the word "mortgage" 4 times. The difference
is that this description is compelling, solves a problem and
offers a "secret" to the reader if they visit the
site.
The direct response business has studied
and mastered the art of writing headlines. What they learned
is that headlines are most effective when they accomplish
3 things:
Solve a problem
Solve that problem quickly
Solve that problem for what appears to
be a small or reasonable amount of money.
With that in mind, the following headline
is acceptable, but not as effective as it could be:
"I can help you to get out of debt
and get a good credit rating - I've done it for others I can
do it for you!"
A better approach, and, a headline that
usually draws more inquiries reads:
"Fix your bad credit in 48 hours
for just $49!"
It solves a problem, does so quickly and
shows how much money is involved. People relate to this appeal
because it has a fundamental basis. Remember the many adages
about goal setting, "A goal without a deadline is a wish!"
Or, how about what they teach you in business school about
proposal writing, "Never offer a plan that does not include
both time and money."
The direct response model is effective
because it addresses these things, especially time and money.
Think about this when writing your page description Meta Tag,
title tag, and first paragraph of the page before you submit
them to the search engines. Ask yourself:
Is my headline or first paragraph compelling?
Is it interesting?
Would I read it and want to visit the
site?
Does it include time and money?
Does it solve a problem?
Does it suggest that it solves that problem
quickly?
Does it show an attractive price?
How does it compare to the descriptions
already listed in the top 10?
This direct response model does not apply
universally in its purist form. This is because many web sites
are not selling things directly or are informational in nature
or support what ad execs would call image advertising.
However, do not overlook the fundamental
truths:
* Being first in the Search Engines
is great.
* Being first and compelling is better!
Your listing in the search engine should
be compelling. If the description of the site right below
yours is more compelling, you lose - that prospect just passed
over your site.
About Article.
This article is copyrighted and has been
reprinted with permission from FirstPlace Software, the makers
of WebPosition Gold.
FirstPlace Software helped define the SEO industry with the
introduction of the first product to track your rankings on
the major search engines and to help you improve those rankings.
A free
trial of WebPosition Gold is available from their Web
site.
Related Services
Explore the expert services of Page Traffic
that puts you in the search engine spotlight.
- Search
Engine Optimization- Search engines have become
rigidly stringent and the competition is doing all
it can to move up. However, we snatch the top positions
for you.
- Link
Building Services- The definition of quality links
is getting narrower. We steer you clear with 'valuable
links.'
- Copywriting
Services- The king or the ambassador, however
you think of content, it's the most important aspect
of your client interaction. Trust us to do justice
to it.
-
Hire Full Time Offshore Team- The modern mantras
of growth are streamlining and strategizing. Hire
our total web management team and take care of both.
|
|
