Should you use Meta Description tags?

[djbaxter]

[video=youtube_share;W4gr88oHb-k]http://youtu.be/W4gr88oHb-k[/video]

 

[Greg Schueler]

Interesting. When Matt clearly says to do or not to do something, it is usually a "sign".

Here, he clearly says, and repeats, Do Not Use Duplicate Meta Descriptions.

 

[Ruslan Krastev]

Meta Descriptions are really important. They have a direct effect on click-through-rates and call-to-action. Consider a plumbing company's main page meta descriptions - you would like to have your phone number there because your customers might be in a position where they don't have the time to browse your website and need help ASAP (imagine your bathroom pipes just burst and you are panicking). In that case they might even not go to your website and call you right away.

 

[djbaxter]

Meta Descriptions are really important. They have a direct effect on click-through-rates and call-to-action.

Only if they are used by Google or Bing as descriptions in search results, which is not always the case. They are not used in ranking.

And this thread is not about meta description tags per se, but rather about duplicate tags vs. no tags.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Meta Descriptions are really important. They have a direct effect on click-through-rates and call-to-action. Consider a plumbing company's main page meta descriptions - you would like to have your phone number there because your customers might be in a position where they don't have the time to browse your website and need help ASAP (imagine your bathroom pipes just burst and you are panicking). In that case they might even not go to your website and call you right away.

Yes I agree with you they are important in organic.

But I also agree with David.

Most local businesses like plumbers want to be in the 7 pack and Google no longer shows descriptions at all there.

But I do think having the content and keywords in the description be consistent with the content, title tag and everything on that page helps increase relevance.

And to David's point, yes the description of every page should be unique.