Google descriptive text missing

virtual_odin · #1 (**permalink**) 05-22-2004, 06:45 AM

Does anyone know what makes the googlebot use or not use the content and meta tags of a site for the listing information and keyword search. I have a site listed in google www.club-host.com but, when you find it, there is no descriptive text on the sitename line or in the normal descriptive lines below. I have done everything I can think of and seen recommended in various forums but still it appears 'bald' and does not come up on searches using words on the site. When it was first indexed it had a rich description drawn from the content and meta tags, but now nothing. Sounds like the robot is being tripped up by something. Any ideas. Here's the header code

Code:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<TITLE>ALL CLUB-HOST.COM © TJSoft - Tim Soane</TITLE>
<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="club,host,web host,web,host,club,club-host,free,cheap,simple,amateur,association,TJSoft,soane,tim,timsoane,clubhost">
<META NAME="description" CONTENT="Web design and hosting for amateur clubs and associations © TJSoft">
<META NAME="Author" CONTENT="Tim Soane © TJSoft">
<META HTTP-EQUIV='Content-Language' CONTENT='en-gb'>
<META HTTP-EQUIV='Content-Type' CONTENT='text/html; charset=windows-1252'>
<LINK REL='stylesheet' TYPE='text/css' HREF='http://www.soane.net/includes/clubhost.css'>
</head>

This is a php generated page and the header is in an include file, but everything I have read says that this is immaterial because the googlebot will look at the page as the script intended. Yahoo is fine by the way.

pedstersplanet · #2 (**permalink**) 05-22-2004, 07:50 AM

Search engines scans the pages for the keyword(s), for example, if you search for "web design", you'll get something like:

Quote:

The Daily Sucker: Current Examples of Bad Design on the Web. ... I started this site back in July 1996 so I wouldn't have to teach a class on Web design. ...

.... was the top result.. so the words web and design are picked out through-out the page(s), and it depends on how much theyre used..

Thats how I see it anyway, but I could be wrong.

Mel · #3 (**permalink**) 05-22-2004, 08:55 AM

It is Google the search engine that ranks the pages, googlebot just finds and delivers the content to the search engine.

IMO Google does not use the contents of the meta keyords tag in its ranking algorithm.

What I suspect you are seeing is a special situation where Google knows of a link to your page but the googlebot spider has not visited it yet, in which case there is only a link with no descriptive text.