Overview
The description meta tag is used by search engines to generate the page description users will see in search results.
(SCREENCAP)
Hm... it's the first thing a user reads about your site... has to convince them within seconds that your page is so compelling they have to click it... has to do all this within a very small number of characters... yep, it's pretty important to get this one right.
Fortunately, SEO-Rx knows what to look for to keep your description tag on point.
What does SEO-Rx check?
SEO-Rx checks whether a description tag is defined, then analyzes it for character count and invalid characters.
If SEO-Rx finds a problem with the description tag, you may see the following alerts:
- Meta description missing
- Meta description too short/long
- Meta description contains special characters
What should I do?
The Description meta tag is located in the Meta Tag tab of the Info Pane.
Here's what to do if SEO-Rx diagnoses a problem:
Meta description missing
- If your page does not have a description tag, that is a meta-911 emetamergency! Create one, stat!
- Review the tips in the Best Practices heading below, and give your page the description it deserves.
Meta description too short/long
- The meta description should be more than 25 characters, less than 150 characters.
- Revise as needed. For length, keep an eye on the character count below the description entry (circled in green above).
Meta description contains special characters
- The meta description should not contain the characters: \ ' " < > { } [ ] ( )
- Pretty simple: remove any of those characters.
Best Practices
- Each page should have a unique description. Don’t use the same description for multiple pages.
- Keep it within the recommended length of 25-150 characters. This minimizes the risk of your description being truncated at an awkwa…
- The description should describe the page content clearly, accurately, and succinctly.
- Don’t stuff the description with keywords. Search engines penalize for this.
- Give users a reason to click. Show them that your page is exactly what they’re looking for!
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