How to Control Descriptive Text on Google SERP

by Richard Bashara

Google’s search engine results page (SERP) provides useful information about your website to potential visitors. Knowing how to control the information that shows helps to optimize your website’s appearance to new readers. By using meta information, you can influence what Google will reproduce on the SERP for users to see. Choose content that describes your site and highlights what your audience will want to see, not what you think the search engine bots want. The better you control descriptive text in Google, the more likely you are to convert passersby to potential customers.

Open the "index.html" file for your website and navigate to the header section of the HTML.

Add the following tag to your header section, if it is not already present: <meta name=”description” content=”this is where your description goes”> Replace the "content" text with your information. In most cases, your description should be based on the main concept of your homepage, not necessarily the content from a specific page on your site. For example, e-business websites might want to use the meta description for their homepage, while blogs would use a different description for specific entries. Keep your description brief to insure Google presents it properly.

After the meta tags, add a "<title>" tag with the title of your website. The title could be the name of your brand, but it is also useful to add a tagline about what you do or where you are located.

Use rich snippets where relevant. If your site lists a location or telephone number, features products or talks about events, rich snippets can enhance the visual appeal of the SERP. Using the “itemscope” and “itemprop” designator, Google can translate microdata into visuals like stars or green text. For an address, type: <span itemprop="address" itemscope itemtype=""> <span itemprop="street-address">456 Main St</span>, <span itemprop="locality">Kansas City</span>, <span itemprop="region">KS</span>. </span>

Things Needed

  • Access to your website code
  • HTML editor


  • Review Google’s articles on rich snippets for more information on which rich snippets are best for your website.
  • Search engines can take up to a week to reindex your Web page, but performing searches for the name of your site and your URL should act as a suitable test.
  • Google looks down upon keyword stuffing. Write for humans and include keywords; do not get penalized for trying to include too many keywords with your description.
  • Google will view your page from top to bottom, so review your code and look at the position of your title, meta and first header tag. The closer to the top that they are, the more likely it is that Google will read and include them.

About the Author


Photo Credits

  • Jupiterimages/ Images
Suggest an Article Correction