Blog question

[G. Lasagne]

With relation to this thread:
http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=126055

I have made a few blog posts advertising special offers and they are instantly ranking well.

Take this search for example
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&rlz=1G1FUJDCENUK322&q=boiler+installation+newcastle&btnG=Search&meta=

As you can see my blog post is number 1 (posted yesterday) so i think its something to definately carry on with in the future.

My question is this, How do i change the description on google to make it more appealing for the searcher?
I mean its a special offer but its not advertising that until somebody clicks on it.
Will changing it have an adverse effect on where it ranks?

Thanks

[AMSEO]

Hi GA,

Your blog is on the wordpress platform, so an easy way to ammend your post description is to:



Edit the Post
Scroll down to the part that says custom fields and add a custom field named, 'description'.
In the value box, add the description you wish to use (keep within 155 characters to make sure the length is optimised for the user) and be sure to reitterate your main service/keyword within the text as well as the offer to confirm the page is where the user wants to land.

It won't have adverse effects on your rankings but make sure you keep consistency with the key phrases you are targeting and re-submit a sitemap to update the indexing of your website.

Alex

[OldWelshGuy]

or add a meta mod, AI1SEO is good as are the other meta data plugins :)

[AMSEO]

I was considering explaining how to install AI1SEO as a plugin, but I usually explain things too technically! :redface:

Alex

[UKSBD]

The problem is your tagged pages are the ones ranking which means you have little control, you should be trying to rank posts not tags.
This is the reason I rarely tag anything.

[G. Lasagne]

The problem is your tagged pages are the ones ranking which means you have little control, you should be trying to rank posts not tags.
This is the reason I rarely tag anything.


But the tags are what are ranking me form what i can see??

So if i removed the tags i would have to include them all in the post, which would make the post look crap, or could i just list them as words, but im guessing the words wont rank as well as tags?

[G. Lasagne]

or add a meta mod, AI1SEO is good as are the other meta data plugins :)

cheers james but will this not affect what google picks up?
I mean if its ranking well now will changing the description not potentially drop it down?

[OldWelshGuy]

cheers james but will this not affect what google picks up?
I mean if its ranking well now will changing the description not potentially drop it down?

You can set the meta desc at post level, so do it going forward, rather than retrospectively. The title is fairly strong though, I would imagine the CTR would be high on that alone.

Also Google doesn't use the description for weighting the SERP's.

[G. Lasagne]

You can set the meta desc at post level, so do it going forward, rather than retrospectively. The title is fairly strong though, I would imagine the CTR would be high on that alone.

Also Google doesn't use the description for weighting the SERP's.


Yeah but it doesnt mantion the special offer etc.

I have tried to install the seo all in onew thingy (but i dont have a clue) i have tried to install from a zip (winrar) folder like it says but not sure what the hostname is?? any ideas.

[UKSBD]

But the tags are what are ranking me form what i can see??

So if i removed the tags i would have to include them all in the post, which would make the post look crap, or could i just list them as words, but im guessing the words wont rank as well as tags?

They are ranking temporarily, but will in all likelyhood soon drop.
you are creating big problems for yourself by tagging like that.

What you should be doing is making a few more posts (in the existing
empty categories) and giving the title of the post more thought.

Rather than a tag page ranking the post page should.
By doing it the way you are you end up with irrelevant content on
the tagged pages, end up with dozens of duplicate pages, and can't
control the page properly.

[OldWelshGuy]

Yep, you need to get your KW research done, look at the phrases, group them together (they become your tags) and then wqrite posts including the phrases, with the groups as tags. this way there will be more focus on the page, more scope on the blog, and more backlinks coming in also :)

[G. Lasagne]

They are ranking temporarily, but will in all likelyhood soon drop.
you are creating big problems for yourself by tagging like that.

What you should be doing is making a few more posts (in the existing
empty categories) and giving the title of the post more thought.

Rather than a tag page ranking the post page should.
By doing it the way you are you end up with irrelevant content on
the tagged pages, end up with dozens of duplicate pages, and can't
control the page properly.


Thanks, i am really struggling to understand all this web stuff, so please bear with me.

If i have a post with 20 tags on it, is that in effect 20 different pages as far as google is concerened?

Should i not put any tags on the posts at all?

The tags are there so they appear for all the different ideas, am i right in thinking this wont be achievable without tagging?

How will i have duplicate content if i only posted the content once?

what is the difference between a tag page and the post page?

Thanks.

Dave

[UKSBD]

Just to add
Now that you have done what you have done, make 1 generic post with
those tags, remove the tags from all other posts, and don't use those
tags again.
Not ideal, but at least you have generic contentent on the tags that
don't go supplemental.

[G. Lasagne]

Just to add
Now that you have done what you have done, make 1 generic post with
those tags, remove the tags from all other posts, and don't use those
tags again.
Not ideal, but at least you have generic contentent on the tags that
don't go supplemental.


Thanks as always but i dont have a clue what your talking about, think i need to get a blogging book or summick:|

Also the posts have different tags????

[UKSBD]

Thanks, i am really struggling to understand all this web stuff, so please bear with me.

If i have a post with 20 tags on it, is that in effect 20 different pages as far as google is concerened?

Should i not put any tags on the posts at all?

The tags are there so they appear for all the different ideas, am i right in thinking this wont be achievable without tagging?

How will i have duplicate content if i only posted the content once?

what is the difference between a tag page and the post page?

Thanks.

Dave

If you use the same 20 tags on 1 post, that post will appear on all the
tag pages plus its own page.

ideally, if using tags, it should have the snippet from at least 5 or 6 pages
and you shouldn't tag a page any more than 3 times, also the tag
shouldn't be competing with the post for the same key phrase.

i.e
You make 10 posts. "plumber in Newcastle" "plumbers in Sunderland"
"Plumbers in Middlesborough" etc. and give them the tag "Plumbers North East"

[G. Lasagne]

If you use the same 20 tags on 1 post, that post will appear on all the
tag pages plus its own page.

ideally, if using tags, it should have the snippet from at least 5 or 6 pages
and you shouldn't tag a page any more than 3 times, also the tag
shouldn't be competing with the post for the same key phrase.

i.e
You make 10 posts. "plumber in Newcastle" "plumbers in Sunderland"
"Plumbers in Middlesborough" etc. and give them the tag "Plumbers North East"

Oh, i kind of understand so within a category all the posts are on one page and so if i had made 3 posts all those tags are taken in to account if they are in the same category. how do i tag 10 posts with the same single tag????

Thanks for your patience.