Can someone please tell me what I am doing wrong?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by GetALink, Jul 26, 2008.

  1. #1
    When I type in You Talk Sports on google it comes to my site.

    Link: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=You+Talk+Sports&btnG=Google+Search

    The description says; Find out the last news and notifications posted by the You Talk Sports staff. ... Do you have a suggestion that you feel might make You Talk Sports better? ...

    I want it to say; Your #1 Sports Forum


    How do I change that? I put meta tags on the forum 5 days ago and google has been on it since. But nothing has changed.
     
    GetALink, Jul 26, 2008 IP
  2. magda

    magda Notable Member

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    #2
    Deciding what to use in your 'snippet' is entirely in google's 'gift' - they'll usually use your meta description, but it depends on other factors, such as the term searched for.
    In this case however, I think the problem is quite simply that your meta description is too short.
     
    magda, Jul 27, 2008 IP
  3. lycos

    lycos Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Basically the description that appear in the search is based on the first sentence that the google bots came across when it starts crawling. Therefore, you might want to consider putting the description line (Your #1 Sports Forum) just before the sentence.

    Or else, I would suggest you insert the line using meta tags something like this:
    <meta name="description" content="You Talk Sports - Your #1 Sports Forum" />

    That should do the trick.
     
    lycos, Jul 27, 2008 IP
  4. hooperman

    hooperman Well-Known Member

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    #4
    Google tries to provide a snippet that relates to the search. When searching for "You Talk Sports", Google doesn't think your meta description "Your #1 Sports Discussion Forum!" is relevant so it takes the snippet from the text around the search term. As lycos suggests, you could prefix the description for News Stand with "Your #1 Sports Forum".
     
    hooperman, Jul 27, 2008 IP