Though I did digress from explaining about the Meta Description with the last three images on the previous page, I thought it was important to point out the use and non use of the other Meta Tags and how Post Tags worked for getting rankings. Now back to the use of descriptions.
PERSONAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First I want to acknowledge that what I am showing you in this tutorial is what I do to make my website content and Meta Description creation as easy as possible when using the All In One SEO Pack plugin. You can continue to do things your way, especially if you are using Yoast.
Typing up your own Meta Description and not using Autogeneration from your first 160 characters of your content is totally acceptable. What I am about to explain from here to the end of this tutorial applies to those who use the All In One, Yoast or any other kind of SEO plugin.
GOOGLE DECIDES THE DESCRIPTION TO USE
The above image is of my scam review on Google Page 1 when searching for my keyword “Is GoFounders and OnPassive a Scam” without quotes. Notice that the keyword I searched is bold faced within the Meta Description snippet, even though it is truncated I still rank high for it.
Even if I were to use different variations of my target keyword like “Is GoFounders a Scam” or “The OnPassive Scams” without quotes, Google would show the same description snippet with just those exact words bold faced in different locations. Now check out a different description.
If I, or someone else, types in a totally different keyword into Google that my scam review will give an appropriate answer to, Google will display a different yet relevant Meta Description from content elsewhere in my review that best describes what the person is searching for, see above.
In this case the Meta Description I had chosen for my review containing my target keyword is no longer relevant to what is being searched for. Here I searched for “Who is Ashraf Mufareh” without quotes. Seeing how my lengthy review answers this, Google created its own description.
Google will always display a different description in the search results based on what a person types into its search engine. This is proof that your chosen Meta Description is not fully necessary for directly getting high rankings. I am ranking high on Google Page 2 with that above search result.
NEXT UP = When a keyword in a comment changes your search engine description
Very useful tutorial, thank you!
One question I have regarding Meta Title - Is it okay to change or add to the visual title after publishing (leaving the Meta Title unchanged)? An example of this would be "Best........for 2020" where I might change it to 2021 next year.
I'm particularly concerned with posts that are ranked 1st page on Google , so don't want to ruin the ranking.
Or does WP automatically change the Meta Title?
Reply
Leave the ones already published as they are and moving forward make sure to create your titles differently if you intend to use a date. This is what I am doing for a recent review I wrote.
For posts you know that will have a date in the title which you would like to update each year, make your Title your keyword. Then add the date in the Meta Title Tag.
Example
I did a review of WA a couple of months ago using the keyword "The Honest Wealthy Affiliate Review" as my title. I then saved the draft version of my review to solidify that title.
Later on I added a date in the Title Meta Tag by re-typing "The Honest Wealthy Affiliate Review" and then adding the extra text "- With Complaints 2020" which I can change each year.
The title you create at the top of your content will automatically be your post title and your Meta Title visible on your website and in search results. Adding a date must only be done in the Meta Title.
This added text will only appear in Google search results. It is not part of the saved original title. As you can see in the 2 screenshots below one is what my title looks like on my website and on Google.
Wow, thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed and thorough response!
That really is helpful and I'll make sure to follow it to the letter.
So basically I should publish with the "generic" permanent title and then change the meta title at a later time with any bits that I will be updating - if I'm reading that right.
I really appreciate the time you've taken here Robert.
Thank you again.
Adrian.
Great post! I wasn't aware that there was an option to auto-generate a meta description in All In One plugin. So it does really make sense for Google to fill in the meta description.
Each time someone searches for a keyword and lands on your site, a different description shows up in the results. And this helps with ranking?
I'll have to experiment with it. That's what I want. More traffic and clicks! Thank you.
All the best, stay safe!
Peter
The first thing I'll do after reading through your training is to switch on Auto generate. Thank you for your training around this.
I have several sites where my SEO us Yoast, but my gardening site is still with All in One. I had no idea that you could set it to autogenerate.
Jim
