4 replies to this topic

[iamlost]

This IS the iconoclast that you've been looking for...
His name is Martinez, Michael Martinez...

Now that you have finished spitting your morning/afternoon coffee all over your keyboard, let me ‘splain…

Cogent advice for reading his latest article These Aren’t The Meta Descriptions You’re Optimizing For, SEO Theory, 15-September-2011.

He takes huge swings and mighty wacks at the current value of:
* meta descriptions;
* keywords in page titles;
* link poor exact-match domains;
* chasing keywords;
with a final diversion into Panda, Algorithm vs. Ranking Factor.

It is a great read.

What are you doing with meta descriptions today? Seriously, what do you do with them?

I think that will remain private, for now.

If you have been paying attention to what Google (and Bing, too, actually) are doing with search listings, you should have realized that meta descriptions have gone the way of the DoDo bird.

While I agree with the thrust of your reasoning I believe that your reference to G&B2 is still somewhat extreme; I would compare them more to the Ailuropoda melanoleuca (endangered) and the Chelonoidis nigra (vulnerable) rather than the Raphus cucullatus (extinct). :angel:

For those who have not been paying attention to the growing web fora shock as SE chosen snippets increasing replace meta description... understand that the SEs are not limiting query returns to a page's 'site intended/emphasised keywords' but to near every term on a page, the anchor (and even surrounding) text in backlinks... Which means that more often than not for many pages the meta description has little to no relevance to most search queries for which a page is returned.

You need to be writing compelling PAGE COPY that can supply the most persnickety search engine with whatever kind of descriptive text snippet it wants.

Generally speaking, I agree. And it looks to become increasingly so.

Your Holy SEO Mantra for Meta Descriptions for the next THREE YEARS must now be: “The Entire Page Is The Meta Description”.

But the carefully crafted crafted meta description is so often the veneer that too often covers the shoddy content construction below... oh woe and lamentations... :nanadevil: :nanadevil: :nanadevil:

There’s nothing like a well-written title tag. And, frankly, given all the SEO dreck I have to slog through every day about “title tags”, there *IS* nothing like a well-written title tag.

I know, isn't it loverly? :whistling:

Differentiation. I don’t know. Call me crazy, but etymologically I think that word comes down from a word that rhymes with “different” rather than “same”. If you’re telling people to put their keywords into their page titles, how is that helping them to stand out from the crowd?

I’ll bet those cookie-cutter page titles look REAL compelling next to the cookie cutter meta descriptions, don’t they?

SHUSH!!!
Yes, The Truth Is Out There but why not leave it quietly, I say again quietly, out there and let the herd believe what they want to believe... they hurt no one but themselves... the x-files are housed in a basement for good reason...

Off Topic

Which member of the Search Syndicate is the Cigarette Smoking Man?

In the wake of the Google Panda algorithm, Eric [Enge] revisited Differentiation again. The lesson still failed to catch on.

May they pay as much heed to Michael. :icanthearyou:

If you haven't read it yet, scroll back up and follow the link. Don't be an SEO lemming. Read, think, consider, perhaps to test, analyse, act.

:popcorn:

[SEOigloo]

This was definitely worth highlighting here at Cre8, Iamlost.

Michael, there is so much to digest in the article. I've only read it once so far. Here is what I came away thinking:

I would like to see an actual example of how your title tags are better than those of someone else. How are they written better and how do they provide better ultimate results/conversions?

Can you give working example, or at least, give a hypothetical one? I'd love to read more from you on this.

[Michael_Martinez]

But isn't that the homework assignment? No cheating!

:disco2:

[A.N.Onym]

I've always thought that it's best to include a good call to action in the title tag. If there are a few keywords, relating to the page, it's only because of relevance. Then again, I have no idea how a keyword can become better, just because Michael uses it :shrug:

Nice article, though It's a shame it's readership is quite finite. Then again, that's probably good, so I can develop such an advantage with awesome content and strong, hard-to-get links, that no one can overcome it, if/when they reassess their SEO strategy

Edited by A.N.Onym, 16 September 2011 - 12:39 AM.

[RisaBB]

Awesome article, Michael! You are so funny!! And smart, too.

Sounds like the most important investment in a website is a full-time passionate writer.