When it comes to describing your site, Google assembles what is known as a snippet description to display in their search results. Sometimes it's a good description - one that prompts potential visitors to click on your link. Other times, it isn't. Take the case in point where the following page (ranked at #1) in a keyword search for scuba dive "entices" the potential site visitor by listing the various PADI locations from around the world...
Can the snippet be changed to entice users to click on your listing? - Of course, this is important because potential site visitors are judging whether to click or not based in part on those snippets. So, how can one go about changing Google's snippet advantageously? Let's take a look and see.
For starters, we've found that Google actually pulls the snippet description from several different places on your Web page. Let's think about this for a minute. If we could determine where Google is pulling our description, perhaps we might be able to change that wording to "produce" a description that more accurately describes our page.
Where is Google pulling the snippet description? - Currently Google is pulling the snippet from any one or combination of the following areas:
1. META description tag (although Google doesn't use contents to determine relevancy).
2. First ALT text found on the page.
3. First text found on the page (which may be a heading tag, body text, etc.).
4. Additional heading tags on the page.
5. Additional body text found on the page.
6. Additional ALT text on the page.
7. Navigation bar on the left-hand side of the page (which is rarely a relevant description of a site!).
8. Copyright information at the bottom of the page.
9. Wherever the keyword phrase is found.
Important Note... - One thing that's very important to note is that the snippet is determined by the search term. In other words, if you search for your company's name, you'll get a different description than what you would get if you search for a keyword phrase that is relevant for your site. Generally, Google appears to be pulling the description from areas of the page that surround the usage of that particular keyword phrase. The obvious question is, Is it the first usage of the keyword phrase? Usually, but not always.
And the moral of the story is... Visit Google and search for your most important keyword phrase for each of your Web pages. What does the description look like? Do you like it? Determine from where on your page Google is pulling the description. You'll probably notice that, in most (but not all) cases, Google pulls the first text surrounding the usage of the keyword phrase, wherever that text may appear on the page.
If you don't like the description, try modifying the area where Google is pulling the description, and see if Google will pick up the changes and use the new description as the snippet in the search results.
Why? ...because your description plays a crucial click factor! - Remember that the description of a page is crucial when it comes to increasing click throughs to your site. If your description is compelling and designed to produce clicks, you may even get more traffic than a competitor who is ranked higher.
To a greater degree than most are aware, you can manage some control over your Google descriptions. This is clearly a case where a little research and some easy tinkering can make a big difference in how your site is presented to potential customers, thereby increasing your click-through traffic coming from Google.
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