Description Duplicate
The Description is a meta description of the page that provides information about its content. It is often displayed in snippets. Therefore it affects their click-through rate (CTR) and the site's position in search results.
This meta tag is located in the <head> </head> block of an HTML page.
An example of writing a meta description in HTML code:
<head> <meta name = "description" content = "Page description"> </head>
Why is uniqueness of the Description important to SEO?
Since the Description is used to form a snippet, mistakes in meta description optimization can negatively affect page rankings. Meta Description tags should be unique, optimized for a specific page. If the information in them is duplicated on several pages, the search engine may consider the content of these pages to be the same. As a result, the following can happen:
- either the search engine will lower the position of the site due to duplicate content of little use,
- or for displaying in the search results, the wrong page will be selected, ignoring the one that has been specially optimized for the request and which could bring higher sales.
In any case, having the same Description is a negative factor for page ranking.
Contents of the "Duplicate Description" report
The report shows the presence of the same meta descriptions on the site pages:
- Duplicate Description (found on more than one page of the site).
- The number of duplicates.
- When you click on the "Show" button in the "Action" column, a list of all pages with this Description will open.
Using the report
Find duplicate Description pages and make unique meta descriptions for each page. Also, check if the rest of the content is duplicated on pages with the same Description.
Best practices for creating unique meta descriptions:
- The Description should directly reflect the content of the page.
- Add keywords in the meta description so that the search engine and users can see the page's relevance (i.e. match) to the search query.
- Include in the Description a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that you have not yet used in the headlines. Describe the main benefits for consumers, show your competitive advantages (free shipping, large assortment, low prices, warranty, etc.). Information about discounts, promotions, bonuses, sales promotions will add attractiveness.
- In meta descriptions for product variations, it is recommended to use unique parameters: price, color, size, SKU, etc. - this will help avoid duplicates.
If you need to register meta Description tags for many product pages, you can set up automatic generation of meta descriptions using special plugins for your CMS. However, this doesn't guarantee meta description uniqueness and the ability to make changes to individual descriptions if necessary. For example, when new keywords are added to the page. Therefore, for auto-generation, you should choose a plugin that provides for manual correction of the Description.