Meta Description Tag

[daxx824]

Am working with auto OEM sites and they want to include "Official Site" in their META Description Tag. They want search engine users to see that they are the "official site" and think the CTR will be higher if users see this.

I argued that using phrases like "official site" in the description Tag actually diminishes overall keyword relevance, and that few, if any, users actually search on the phrase "official site."

QUESTION: What's more important - how a company wants to be perceived by users/searchers (credibility/reputation), or whether or not they want to be found by as many users as possible by using search phrases people actually use?

Thanks,
Daxx824

[Elisabeth]

I have to agree with the client here to some degree.

If it would be a positive for them in the branding/credibility area, then i would use it. Probably more so in the homepage than product pages, but it depends.

Your argument that it would diminish keyword relevance doesn't really hold, since the META Descriptions are only just one small piece of the puzzle. Your ability to use the keyword phrases in the body of the page (and inbound links) matters more.

In that vein, the client also needs to be aware that the META Desc. tag is NOT always what shows in a search result to users. The snippet may only include parts of the page/product info.

Now, if they want OFFICIAL SITE in the TITLE tag, it would be a different story, since that is almost always the clickable link in a SERP, and the phrase would eat up significant keyword space there.

However, I would still balance the impact of their brand recognition in that case as well.

in my experience, at least in PPC - "official site" has really worked for me to improve CTR.