Meta descriptions vary page by page

[danishouse]

Been looking at the meta tags for the site www.danish-homestore.com and searched each html page seperate from a general search to see what google and bing and others actually list for the pages and I have found a inconsistancy in meta tags.

On one page the TAG is using GENERAL / FULL ITEM DESCRITION and the first line while on other pages the meta tag is taken from the PRODUCT PAGE / META DESCRIPTION.

How can I make this consistant as I want the site to ONLY use the PRODUCT PAGE / META DESCRIPTION!

[Mike Hughes]

Hi Simon,

The meta description used will normally be the text that is in the 'meta description' box on the product and section pages or the generic site description for general pages like the add to cart, checkout pages, etc.

This is usually set in the external layout design.

Can you show an example page that is doing something else.

[danishouse]

This page has the parent section META tag

Vintage_hans_Wegner_sofa.html

Hans Wegner box sofa model AP18 | Danish homestore
http://www.danish-homestore.com/acat...gner_sofa.html
Midcentury Danish furniture store based in Nottingham. Showroom with display of Danish furniture available in the UK and for export. Est. 1986.

This page has BOTH the parent section and the product section

Vintage teak BWANA chair | Finn Juhl design
http://www.danish-homestore.com/.../...hl_design.html
Showroom with display of Danish furniture available in the UK and for export. ... Finn Juhl chair in teak and new upholstery, Model FD152 knows as "BWANA ...

This page is using the description meta tag twice AND includes the tweet

Rosewood nest of tables | Ole Wanscher design
http://www.danish-homestore.com/.../...st-tables.html
Ole Wanscher rosewood nest tables produced by A J Iversen Copenhagen. Tweet. Ole Wanscher rosewood nest tables produced by A J Iversen Copenhagen

Would it be possible to have sellerdeck make the meta description from them product page be the default that is used on search engines?? What else is the point in writing them??

[Mike Hughes]

To pick up on the points you made:

This page has the parent section META tag

It doesn't look that way to me. The description meta tag on that page says

<meta name="description" content="Hans Wegner designed 3 seat sofa in new grey wool upholstery and original sprung cushions in yellow. Model AP18 designed 1950. £3450 from Danish-homestore.com in Nottingham" />

I assume from this your concern is really about what snippet of text google is showing in the search results rather than sellerdeck having the wrong meta tag content on the pages?

Would it be possible to have sellerdeck make the meta description from them product page be the default that is used on search engines?? What else is the point in writing them??

The desciption meta tag will often be the default for the snippet the search engines use but if they believe that there is a more relevant bit of text to include in their serps then of course it makes sense for them to include that rather than the bit you wrote.

In other words, google and the other engines show the bits that are relevant to what the searcher is asking for. As an example, if someone searched for "100% Worsted Gabriel fabric" then the search engines are going to use something relevant in the serps to show the searcher there is something relevant there and to let them decide if it's a link they want to follow or not.

There's nothing you can do to change this behaviour. If you think the engines aren't picking the best snippet then you might have a problem with your snippet or the page itself.

What search term are you using to get the results page with the unwanted snippet?

[chickenhouseman]

I noticed you have 2 keyword tags on the first page. The other pages didn't open for me.

I've looked at a few other - some you have included your domain name which might be disregarded by the search engines when they are creating the SERP - it's already information they provide so that would just be duplicating. hence they may look for something else.

Some of your meta descriptions are quite long so again, they might look for something that fits better

If your meta is sized to fit there may be a better chance of it appearing as you want.

have a look at screaming frog seo as this is a great tool for finding long and duplicated meta