I realize that the description tag was once a thing people loaded with keywords to try to do for on-site SEO. Does this area matter any more for rankings? From what I assume, adding a REAL description here makes more sense because it will draw more poeple to click your link (because it will make more sense because its describing your site). If wording is captivating, people will click and read it and spend time on your site, thus improving SE ranking. Also using keywords in the description IS important to HUMANS and not as much to SEO because they keywords -- if they match the serach -- will be bolded, just as they are in Adwords. Am I correct with this stuff?
Google no longer uses the description tag, or atleast that is what i've read from high regarded sources, but Yahoo and MSN supposedly still do so it is worth including a description in each page, if you keep it to a respectable size and relevant there is no harm in inserting one for each page, it doesn't take long to do. Same for the keyword tag, I still use it but i don't spam it, 5 to 10 relevant keywords regarding the page is suffice and wont harm your efforts.
Does any one have a link for this. I have tried to explain to people that the description tag is more of a sales area than a seo tools these days, but it helps to have a solid reference.
Like all things in SEO. If it make the site more user friendly or more organized and professional then do it. I make sure description tags are clear and relevant to the content of the page. More click, happier users and the more relevant things are at your site the better they will rank. IHMO
I've found 2 uses for the description tag: The first is that when your site shows up in Google SERPs, the description tag is usually the summary which will display. If you leave it out, your description will be scraped from your page. So I always include a good description. (You mentioned this already) Second, I've found that if each page on the site has varied description tags you'll have an easier time getting more pages per site indexed. But no, don't overdo it with keywords.
Yes Right, I've also read that information you place in this tag is not given any weight in the ranking algorithms of Google, and only a tiny amount of weight in Yahoo's.But I find Google also displays the description info. I use meta description tag and keyword tag. Use these meta tags, it doesn't take long to do. Don't Spam.
If you can't be bothered customizing a description for each page, make sure the first 160 characters or so of your content is what you'd want users to see when they come across your page from a search.