Keyword use in meta description

[inhouseninja]

Anyone  know if its important that the target keyword is used AT THE START of the meta description, or is it enough that it is anywhere in the description...?

I have a few big ones that are at the end of the description and I was wondering if I should move them up to the front...

Thanks!

[vforvinnie]

Check this out: http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/meta-description

It doesn't mention specific placement but I tend to put them at the beginning, and possibly one  at the end.  The reason for this is that search words will be in bold, so I like to have them show up throughout, but with the most important stuff in the front.

Maybe someone else can chime in about placement for a higher click through, but I think at the start would be better.

[BlastAM]

It's usually best to use your target keyword at the beginning of the description.  Users will not always read the full description when scanning the SERP. Search engines seem to give the to give more weight to the keywords at the beginning of the description as well. So the closer to the front the better.

Okay, that being said, you have to make sure you are not trying to jam all of your keywords at the beginning otherwise it will turn off the user. Choose the most important one as your primary keyword to use at the beginning and use other related keywords throughout the description where they make sense.