Question About Meta Descriptions...

[Roger Marquez]

From an SEO standpoint of view...Do we need to add meta descriptions to categories and tags pages? And, Should those pages be indexed at all?

Cheers!

 

[OutreachSEO]

Yes to both on category pages. Not needed so much for tag pages.

 

[the gent]

Do we need to add meta descriptions to categories

There is no question about it

and tags pages

Not that important

 

[liyong601c]

No need in my view, now meta description is auto generate by google

 

[Scott Evil]

Yes. These are indexed at all

 

[dekhajam]

Normally yes, but make sure your tag pages don't cannibalize your category pages.
That's the reason why I normally deactivate them.

 

[Mr Positive]

I would recommend to add to categories only

 

[r.santistevan]

Following

 

[SEOspur]

Still, I believe that the meta description will give some SEO value to the particular page in SERP. It will give more indexing and also help to increase some traffic to your website. If you're not adding it will be auto-generated by Google if that page has any content on it!

I would recommend to add to categories only

Yes. I too recommend the same. No need for Tags pages!

No need in my view, now meta description is auto generate by google

Is this possible for the category, tag pages? How could Google generate without having any content on it? Just wondering to know

 

[MrDarkFlame]

i put them meta descriptions

 

[SirLouen]

From an SEO standpoint of view...Do we need to add meta descriptions to categories and tags pages? And, Should those pages be indexed at all?

Depends if they provide value at all. Generally, tags should be removed because they barely provide any value (although I've found some of my old sites are ranking for some long tail with the tags)

Think on meta description as what the users will be presented on google if the category is shown in the SERPS. And think if you would like that page to be shown on the SERPS at all

Imagine this hypothetical scenario:
kw: living room deco

Competition page:
Title: "10 tricks to improve your living room deco"
Meta description: "Step by step guide to improve your living room deco and ..."

Your site: Ranking with the category: "Living room Deco"
Title: Living Room Deco Archive - MyDecoSite.wtf
Meta description: "Some random first 20 words of the latest article in that category"

Where do you think most users will click?
What will happen to your site, when Google detects the CTR is 0.1%?

A rule of thumb: Be aware of anything you are presenting to Mr.G

 

[Zoe69]

i think if there is any meta data boxes, it would be better to fill it out!

 

[Digirulz]

Meta description essential for category page. Not necessary for tags if it is no index.

 

[Roger Marquez]

There is no question about it



Not that important

Normally yes, but make sure your tag pages don't cannibalize your category pages.
That's the reason why I normally deactivate them.

I would recommend to add to categories only

Meta description essential for category page. Not necessary for tags if it is no index.

So, it would be better to just noindex Tag pages?

Thanks for replying btw!

 

[Roger Marquez]

Does it matter if we´re talking about an eCommerce website?

 

[dekhajam]

So, it would be better to just noindex Tag pages?

It really depends on your site setup, couldn't decide that without any further information - normally I would say yes, no index them if you already have individual category pages.
Google for site:yourdomain.com "category keyword"
Check which URLs (tag pages vs. category pages) are ranking.
If both types occur then it's pretty obvious that they cannibalize each other (Google favour them almost "randomly")
You can also check that with your GoogleSearchConsole.

For further readings lookup the term: keyword cannibalization

 

[Elektra1]

I use meta descriptions if the category is shown in the SERPS. I don't use them with tags.