Google just announced some rather big news in how it displays search results (SERP) by now providing an even longer snippet. A snippet is what used to be just a bit of text located right below the link on the results page but now they are rolling out an even longer result. While this is great for the end user this might not be so great for consumers. Ars Technica is speculating that this might lead to more time spent Googling and less click throughs. Translated this means the searcher might get the answer to their question or query without having to actually click on the site! I can see their point and it could be troubling but it is all the more reason to write an even better Meta description.

 
Meta descriptions are normally used to control what appears in the snippet. Google doesn’t always use the exact text and sometimes the snippet takes portions of the copy or content of the web page to provide more information. Translated this means that sometimes the length of what was searched might be longer or contain more keywords than what is located in the meta description and thus Google has to look to the web page that these keywords are located on and return some of those words.

 
An example search: Eau Claire real estate agent sells homes

1. Selling Your Eau Claire Home -MLS List Your Home For Sale ...

Welcome to Your Chippewa Valley Home Shane O'Gorman Eau Claire Real Estate Agent and e-Pro® Realtor® 715-894-1001 or Email me. Buy or Sell, I'll Treat You ...
www.yourchippewavalleyhome.com/selling - 76k - Cached - Similar pages -

 
Notice that Google returned a snippet taking words from all over the place. The highlighted words are what Google is telling matched what I was looking for.

 
Ok so what does this all mean?

 
What this means is that relevancy might become an even bigger factor but if you understand the fundamental structure of a search engine the whole point is relevancy. More or less this is how “smart” Google is and basically it’s getting even smarter if you combine this with the news that Google is getting more semantic as well.  If you look at the example Google is returning the keywords that exactly match what I was looking for wrapped in the words around those words. Translated Google is showing me what I was looking for including the context of those words.

 
I don’t think the new search has rolled out quite yet in my area so I can’t show you exactly what it is going to look like but I can tell you what you should be doing from an SEO standpoint.

 
As I said above Meta descriptions are generally the snippet that appears in the results. SEO experts have said that while this might have a slight bearing on your ranking in the SERPs (How high you appear on the results page) but often people mistake this as a reason to stuff the Meta description with keywords. What this does is using the example above the snippet would appear stuffed like “Eau Claire homes real estate agent homes sells real estate Eau Claire” So if the following appeared in a result Google would highlight all of those words since they are what you were looking for but it just becomes a jumbled mess of keywords. Why would anyone click on that? This is why the experts say to not focus on keywords at all! Sure you should use some keywords within the Meta description but you should avoid stuffing it. Instead what they do recommend is that you write a compelling description. This means you want to write something that gives people a reason to click through or to click on your link and to continue to your site.

 
It is absolutely crucial that your Meta description is relevant to the page. Translated you want the meta description written to fully describe what a user will find on the page if they click on the link but also you have to keep in mind that it should be compelling and even more so now you might not want to give up too much! With Google displaying an even longer description you might answer the question too well and they not click or you answer it so well that they like what they saw. That is you have to either give some teaser text and force people to click to get the full answer. What I think is more effective today is to be compelling but at the same time provide a complete answer. It’s all about being authoritative and the more you can place yourself in that position in the eyes of the searcher the more likely they are to use your website as a source of information. I don’t like being teased and forced to do something to receive information and neither do most people.

If you have something to say please leave a comment. I will try to comment on your blog as well.
If you really like this story flag it for a feature!
If you would like to work with an agent who is leading the way call 715-894-1001 today or send me an email.

Buy or Sell, I'll Treat You Well!