Snippets can be an exercise in perseverance
Well, that was a doozy!
I thought I was being very creative when I chose a theme that included multiple pages and drop-down menus. The format looks clean and seems easy for visitors to navigate. There is a hitch though. The Snippets...
Snippets are those shortened explanations that immediately follow your website on search engines. When someone types in a keyword or keyword phrase your site is more likely to be among those they visit if your explanation or snippet is in line with their keywords.
So, I used google and Kyle's "alphabet soup" method to research the keyword phrases that people use most often. Then I got to work on it, all 65 pages.
The good news is that I only have 15 snippets to finish as my most important to-do task tomorrow. Also...
The silver lining is that in just a single day, after paying attention to my permalink phrases and snippets traffic to my site has increased. It's very little traffic so far, but it's a good place to start.
It can be tedious work to fill in all those descriptive boxes, but it pays off big time in terms of traffic to your site. Remember folks that traffic often becomes conversions = $$$.
Marion Noon
Recent Comments
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It is the realization that it ain't over till its all been done..the snippet preview boxes, the tagging of the images, the header tags, the heads and sub heads, the formatting and so forth. Initially it is daunting, but I am increasingly convinced that God, not the devil is in the details..
Pain the butt as it is sometimes though-good perseverance on your part though Marion.
I'm really a bit too new at this to really understand snippets. Hadn't even thought about them prior to your blog, Marion. Definitely on my To Do list of things to look at
Gordi
You may be confusing the tag line which immediately follows the name of your page with the description of what you actually offer on that page (snippet). All this is done from the dashboard within the admin area using Wordpress>pages.
Let me see if I can break it down a little:
First there is the name of the website followed by the permalink phrase (descriptor)
http://presentlikapro.biz/meet-the-founder (permalink phrase)
Next is the title that is used to extend the underliined link that search engines display. Here's an example:
http://presentlikeapro.biz/meet-the-founder-marion (page title)
http://presentlikeapro.biz/meet-the-founder-marion... Get to know the founder of Present Like A Pro. Give a human face to the on-line presence and feel more at ease. (snippet)
Finally are the KEYWORDS:
meet the founder, meet the owner, get to know the founder, about the founder
Use several methods to determine what the most commonly typed search engine keywords or keyword phrases are:
1. google: type a phrase and a list of about 4 other combinations usually displays
how do I cook spaghetti
> how do I cook spaghetti noodles
> how do I cook spaghetti sauce
> how do I cook spaghetti and meatballs
2. google: plus "alphabet soup"
how do I cook spaghetti -a-
how do I cook spaghetti -b-
how do I cook spaghetti -c- you get the idea
3. http://jaaxy.com
4. keyword tool on the dashboard
Remember that the more descriptive you are about what your site offers, the more traffic will land on your site.
I hope this helped. Good luck!
Actually Gordi is right. Google uses 3 ways to decide what to show in the snippets. 1 is the description you fill in yourself, 1 is a "snippet" of your text based on what the person has searched for, and 1 is taken from the dmoz entry if there is one. It chooses which it thinks is more relevant to the searcher, which in most cases is something from the text of your post.
For time saving purposes, it's often best to not bother filling the description box in. I tend to only do it if I find Google's chosen snippet to be not good enough to encourage people to click.
As for keywords, you definitely shouldn't be filling these in. They aren't used for anything, google determines the keywords on your site based on the content itself, not some random box you fill out. It can also make your site look spammy if you do.
nomari, thank you for info, you mean we have to put each page on snippets to check right.
3seasongift
It's not essential to add snippets, but a very good idea. It will increase traffic to your site; otherwise visitors will just go somewhere else. If you want search engines to notice you, it should be done. If you need a walkthrough on the specifics just leave me a comment on my profile page and I'm glad to help you.
Good luck!
I haven't even gotten that far to consider snippets, I thank you for bringing it to the forefront, another piece of the puzzle to store away for later. :)
Sounds like you have been very busy :)
Glad you are seeing some results, very encouraging :)
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Now I know what a snippet is you know people come up with these terms but never bother to explain what they are, I assumed that they had something to do with SEO . Thanks marrion for your explanation .
Ray Bowely ( Merryman88 )