A Good Description for Your Google Listing

Did you ever wonder how Google comes up with the description for your site in the listing? It is pretty simple, and now you can have some control over it.

Google starts by checking the Open Directory Project to see if your site is listed in that directory. (By the way, if your site is not listed there, I strongly encourage you to submit it today as it will boost your position in the Google listings.) If your site is listed in the Open Directory Project (also known as DMOZ), Google uses the description assigned to your site by the DMOZ editors. If your site is not listed in DMOZ (sometimes it can take six months or longer to get listed there), Google will take the description you provide in your Meta Description Tag.

The problem with this situation is that the description that Google uses for your site in its listings is VERY important since it is a major factor in determining whether potential clients click on your listing. Further, DMOZ editors are known for using bland descriptions that are not very compelling. As long as you are not listed in DMOZ, you can control your listing since it will show what you want it to from your Meta Description Tag. However, once DMOZ accepts your site, you were stuck with their description of your practice - until now....

Now you can override the DMOZ editors' bland description of your practice by adding a very specific meta tag. MSN allows you to do this too. In fact, they were the first to allow this tag and now Google has followed suit. It is called the NOODP (no ODP) tag and it is simple to add in.

Just use any or all of the following:

< name="robots" content="NOODP">
< name="msnbot" content="NOODP">
< name="googlebot" content="NOODP">

Your web marketing firm should know how to use this. The key is making sure that the description that you do use is compelling enough to make potential clients want to click on it.

Dan Goldstein
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