As with the meta keywords tag, your page's meta description tag doesn't help your search engine rankings much, but it does allow you some control over how the page is described in search engine results. Many search engines (though not Google), will use what you have put in the meta description tag on the search results page.
Presumably, you have written your post following the old advice to tell 'em what you'll tell 'em, tell 'em, then tell 'em what you told 'em. Using this format, the first part of your post will give an excellent excerpt for the search engines to display and persuade people to click through to your site.
The MetaDescription plugin is designed to automate this process for you. It will read your post or page, generate a meta description tag from the first part of the content, then inject it into your page header. The plugin will also generate a meta description tag for your home page. This defaults to your blog's tagline, but is easily configured to anything you want.
You can download MetaDescription from the plugins page.
Enjoy!
Hi Rick
Just a quick note to say how useful and helpful I am finding this series of posts.
I am technical (sort of) but sometimes, the lack of even a README for a Habari plugin dissuades me from trying them out. It may be blindingly obvious to the author and developers but not necessarily to me - an end-user who came from WordPress where most plugins are well documented IMHO.
Your posts explain clearly and in plain English, precisely what they do and why they might be handy on my blog.
I'm off to install a couple right now !
--
Andy
Hi Andy,
Thank you for reading and trying out the plugins. If you can find any way to improve them, all input is appreciated.
I think what you're seeing is a result of Habari's relative immaturity. First the coders get involved, then the 'normal' users come. It is only after they become involved that documentation begins to assume more importance. I consider myself more of a 'normal' user than a coder, and I know how frustrating using software without clear documentation can be, so I try to include it.
When you open up the plugins you'll see a readme file with all the relevant information. I've put a ticket into Habari-extras asking that readmes be included in all the packages. With time, I'm sure something will come of it.