| If you're like many web users, you may not even | | | | criteria in the Google algorithm. |
| know what a "Google snippet" is, how it should be | | | | Given a choice, most of us would rather have a say in |
| structured, or even why you should care. But when it | | | | what gets displayed in our snippets, rather than leaving |
| comes to optimizing your small business web site, it's | | | | it up to Google to decide. The best case would be to |
| definitely worth knowing what a Google snippet really | | | | have Google use your meta description as the snippet |
| is, and what you can do to make sure it is structured | | | | text, since you have complete control over the |
| properly so you can improve your web site's | | | | contents of this text. But how can you influence |
| performance in the search engine results. | | | | Google to use your meta description, instead of looking |
| A Google snippet is the descriptive text that displays | | | | elsewhere for snippet text? Although there is no |
| right after the title (the blue, underlined link) on the | | | | sure-fire way to make Google do anything, there are |
| search engine results page. A snippet is displayed as | | | | some things you can do to improve your chances: |
| black text, and sits right above the URL link, which is | | | | 1. Write unique, individual meta descriptions for each |
| displayed in green: | | | | page of your site |
| | | | 2. Use well-researched, relevant keywords in your |
| Additional elements you may see in a Google snippet | | | | meta description |
| include: | | | | 3. Make sure the rest of your page is accurately |
| - Ellipses at the beginning of the snippet indicates the | | | | optimized to use your keywords enough to be helpful, |
| text is an excerpt from a larger block of text | | | | but not too much to be considered spamming |
| - Ellipses at the end of a snippet indicates that the text | | | | 4. Don't use a long string of keywords or repeat |
| was cut off after 156 characters, which is the limit that | | | | content inside your tag |
| Google will display in a snippet | | | | 5. Use descriptions that are well-written and make use |
| - In the case of discussion forums or articles, you may | | | | of your keywords, yet still make sense to humans |
| see a light gray line of text before the snippet that | | | | According to Google's Webmaster Blog, Google often |
| gives specific information, e.g., "1 post – 1 author – | | | | prefers to display meta descriptions as snippet text, |
| Last post: Mar 24" | | | | since it tends to give searchers a good idea of what |
| - Words that are bold correspond to the search | | | | the page is about. However, if your meta descriptions |
| term(s) entered by the user doing the search | | | | are low-quality, spammy, or don't accurately reflect the |
| So where does Google get the snippet text? | | | | contents of the page, Google is not very likely to use it |
| There are basically three places where Google looks | | | | as the snippet text on a search results page. |
| to find snippet text; 1) from your meta description in the | | | | By writing well-optimized, high-quality meta descriptions |
| page code, 2) from the site's listing in the Open | | | | for your web pages, you not only improve the |
| Directory Project (an authoritative web directory edited | | | | chances that Google will look to your own meta data |
| by humans), and 3) the text content of the page. It is | | | | first, you also have a little more control over what |
| even possible that Google could take text from a | | | | searchers will see each time your snippets are |
| combination of these sources, depending on other | | | | displayed in the Google search results. |