Do I need a Meta description for every page?

[dawsonski]

HI Guys,

We have just developed a new website and I'm looking to add meta descriptions with relevant key words to the pages . As the site has over 80 pages it is quite an undertaking and i was wandering if pages, such as  the shopping cart  and FAQ's etc,  need meta  descriptions as well?

Thanks in advance : )

Pete

[Anthony_NorthSEO]

Hi Pete,

Good question.

First thing, don't worry too much about keywords in your meta descriptions. Google will make them bold, which might draw some attention to your listing on the results page, but keywords in meta descriptions don't actually improve rankings.

Instead, use the meta description area to entice the searcher to visit your site. What set's you apart from the competition... do you offer free shipping?... any special promotions? Using the Meta Description as an informative snippet and a call to action is much more effective in increasing CTR (Click Thru Rate) and Conversions than packing them with keywords.

Secondly, some pages (like the Shopping Cart or other customer specific pages), you don't really want showing up in Google, so it's best to instruct Google not to index these pages (either via the robots.txt file or meta-robots tag). If Google doesn't index the page, then there's no need for the Meta Description.

Lastly, I'd recommend investing the time in writing good Meta Descriptions for the pages that you anticipate will be receiving the most impressions and traffic, and use a default description of the site for the pages that will likely rarely appear in results.

Hope this helps!

Thanks,

Anthony

[wojkwasi]

Agree with Anthony - a unique meta description should be present on each page. Won't help with rankings but will help with click-through-rates

[wojkwasi]

Also, if you have none present, Google will make up it's own based on what's on the page - sometime not always the right context - if you include your own, you're more likely to have control of what's displayed.

[Anthony_NorthSEO]

Hear hear. Thumbs up.

[LeeAnn30]

80 pages and the amount of work involved is all worth it my friend.

[Sexandmetal]

Secondly, some pages (like the Shopping Cart or other customer specific pages), you don't really want showing up in Google, so it's best to instruct Google not to index these pages (either via the robots.txt file or meta-robots tag). If Google doesn't index the page, then there's no need for the Meta Description.

Why would you not want google to index these pages or use meta titles or descriptions? I am kind of in the same situation as the OP and have had some success on making some of my products in my shopping cart rank in google.

warmest regards,

Michael

[Anthony_NorthSEO]

Hi Michael,

I'm not talking about the product pages that make up the site, just the actual cart and checkout pages.

I'm not sure what eCommerce platform you're running, but basically whatever page is displayed when a customer clicks "My Cart" and "Checkout" or whatever it happens to be on your site... the pages that are dynamically generated when user's add products and purchase items. There's no need to have a My Cart or a Checkout page ranking in Google that shows an empty cart or an error when somebody clicks the search result. Same thing for customer account pages like order tracking or order history... anything that's dynamically generated and requires a user to be logged in or have an active session on the site.

[myclicks-163603]

You might also consider using spcial characters within your meta description like: ★ 

Use only only one at a time otherwise google ignores it. But in general it is a great way to improve organic CTR's if used appropriately.