Are meta descriptions really that important?

[blueygg]

How many people are actually using meta descriptions and seeing SEO benefit?

I ask because Google auto generate the descriptions depending what keyword people type in.

Do you use meta descriptions or leave it up to G?

 

[K R Y Σ]

Νever leave something up to G

 

[True SEO]

Yes, You have to give importance to meta description. Google will generate auto-meta tag if the content and meta are not relevant.

 

[jhakasseo]

I use my own meta title and description. Google generate description their own? Never see that before.

 

[Roger Marquez]

Anything that is displayed in the front-end of users affects your CTR so, yeah, it is kind of important.

 

[TomTheCat]

Google generate description their own? Never see that before.

Yes they do. I've seen it a few times.

 

[SIR]

I'll echo the others, definitely important because you want every edge you can get. If you're gonna half ass it, is it worth your time?

 

[GrizzlyBeardMan]

It helps with the CTR so an indirect, but good benefit to SEO.

And if Google doesn't like the description that you've used, it will generate something else. If you want to force a specific description, use content from the page.

 

[blueygg]

Thanks for your comments...I'll keep the meta's as they are then. Wanted to know how others were doing it.

Whats strange though is I have noticed that if I type in a different search term (related to kw) that my meta will change anyway, even though I have my own metas set.

 

[AuraMarketing]

Google Sites does not allow you to add meta descriptions. Still, their parasites rank well.

 

[Srividhya]

Yes, Really it means a lot. As meta description is the small piece of content where we can impress the viewer and convert the viewer as a visitor to us website.

 

[Digirulz]

Yes the meta description is important, it gives positive impact to site, make it relevant to site content,It will help with CTR.

If the meta description is not highly related to site content, then google picks appropriate one to the site

 

[LilMosey]

Very very important imo. I always use my owns, even though like you said, google sometimes generates their own

 

[davids355]

They are important because often Google will pick up something random for the meta description and it won't look good in the search results. So setting meta description manually insures that you have the right content, keywords etc in meta description - this will help increase CTR in the results primarily and also its just another indicator to Google on what your page is about - remember its best not leaving anything to chance in SEO.

 

[gsquarewebtech]

Yes, meta descriptions still important for the website. It impacts well to the site.

 

[FLASH POINT]

Yeah, Its very important IMO. but Good benefit's to seo.
The content and meta are not relevant.

 

[yakuzaemme]

They are important because often Google will pick up something random for the meta description and it won't look good in the search results. So setting meta description manually insures that you have the right content, keywords etc in meta description - this will help increase CTR in the results primarily and also its just another indicator to Google on what your page is about - remember its best not leaving anything to chance in SEO.

Any idea why BHW (homepage) doesn't have any meta description? I always wondered but never got a chance to ask.

 

[davids355]

Any idea why BHW (homepage) doesn't have any meta description? I always wondered but never got a chance to ask.

Well thats a good example of why a description is needed, seeing as the one thats been picked up isn't that relevent to the site. However, I guess with blackhatworld almost all of the search traffic will come from sub-pages, threads and so on, which do have relevant meta descriptions. So maybe its not so much of an issue in this case.

 

[Nityen Prakash]

The meta description tag serves the function of advertising copy. It draws readers to a website from the SERP, and thus is a very visible and important part of search marketing. Crafting a readable, compelling description using important keywords can improve the click-through rate for a given webpage.

 

[HarneyStumbaugh]

Yes still important. Meta description tags can have a significant impact to optimize your search engine efforts and they act as your organic ad text.