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Using the Meta Description tag
By Yelena Shapiro with Etelka Lehoczky
What is the meta description tag and why should I use it?
The meta description tag describes your site's content, giving search engines' spiders an accurate summary filled with multiple keywords.
Note: Meta tags are hidden in a document's source, invisible to the reader. Some search engines, however, are able to incorporate the content of meta tags into their algorithms. No engines penalize sites that use meta tags properly, so it's recommended that you always include them.
The meta description tag is especially important because it's the only tag supported by some engines, such as Excite.
Here's an example of a meta description tag:
<html>
<head>
<meta name="description" content="Your site's
summary here">
</head>
</html>
The meta description tag and search engines
A meta description tag can boost your rankings on some engines.
Another reason the meta description tag is important is that some engines use it as a site's summary on their results pages. If they do, the reader may actually see this hidden tag. Make sure its contents are enticing to the reader.
Keywords in the meta description tag
The meta description tag should contain multiple keywords organized in a logical sentence. Place the keywords at the beginning of your description and close to each other to achieve the best possible rankings.
The length of the meta description tag
Search engines vary in their preferred size for meta tags. The iWon search engine, or Canada.com, accepts a meta description tag up to 250 characters long, while HotBot specifies 150 characters as its guideline. Try to use the smaller number, 150 characters, for your site. Never make your meta tag more than 250 characters long because some results pages will cut it off.
Avoid spam
Avoid repeating keywords more than 3-7 times in your meta description. Some search engines consider it to be spam.
An overview
The meta description tag
Use the meta description tag on all pages
Limit it to 150 characters
Include keywords
Don't repeat keywords more than 7 times
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