In order to track SEO metrics for my clients, I use the SEOMoz Pro service, which is a handy tool at monitoring SEO metrics (and so much more). I’ve noticed on one of the sites I manage through the service that I’ve been missing a number of meta description tags. For those unaware, meta description tags are used to give a brief and concise summary of content on a page. This helps search engines and potential readers understand what’s on the page. The meta description info is also often used in page summaries in search results from engines like Google. The below example is one from my music site, Electric Mohawk.
The example demonstrates the importance of meta description tags in SEO quite clearly. I noticed, though, that some of my pages on Electric Mohawk are turning up as missing meta description info in their tags. A prime example for my site is archive pages. My sites are typically built using WordPress, so archive pages are dynamically generated and compiled, usually based on the month content was published.
I typically do not make my archive pages searchable for SEO purposes, but some people may still want them archived and may still want them to include a basic description. The problem is, though, that many of us already use an SEO plugin of some sort, particularly All-in-One SEO Pack, where users do not get direct access to creating meta description tags for certain dynamically generated pages (any kind of archive page or page-navi generated page). Another issue is that by creating another meta description tag to compensate for this in the header.php file would cause duplicate description tags to be created if the content is not an archive page. I’ve created a simple workaround for WordPress archive pages to solve this problem.
Add this piece of code to your theme’s header.php file:
What this code is doing is simple. The if statement checks whether or not the page is an archive page. If it is an archive page, then it will echo out a portion of the meta description html tag. In between, I made a call to the_time() function that passes in the month and year. I then created another echo that gives the actual description.
Some of you may be wondering why there are two echo statements instead of a simple string concatenation. While I was debugging and testing out this code, the date would appear before the initial HTML tag, causing problems with formatting and validation. Creating a second echo seemed to solve the problem. Also, if the statement evaluates false, no additional tags will be generated.
I hope this snippet helps you out in some way. Have an alternative? Feel free to share!
WebMovement, LLC has come a long way with the development of their plugin that integrates the FoxyCart e-Commerce system with WordPress. The latest release adds a ton of features as well as user customizations that make product pages more SEO friendly.
Here are some of the new features released in 0.3.3
On a sort of unrelated note, a new site design has been launched in celebration of the new release. See the screen shot above or check out the FoxyPress redesign firsthand.
Want to learn more about the update and new features? Check out the updated Features, Getting Started, and FAQ sections.
Here’s an informative infographic I found over at WordStream that may be of some interest to you. I’d say that this is a rather successful business model for Google, don’t you think?
For a larger version, please click on the image.
I’m not surprised that the majority of advertising is spent on insurance or finance related topics. That’s where the money is, you know 
I’ve been MIA lately because of finals this week and next week. Not only am I wrapping up classes this semester, but I am wrapping up my undergraduate career at UWSP. It’s been a long 4 1/2 years, and cramming 3 majors into that timeframe was no easy feat. Overall, I am really happy with everything I’ve learned, and am ready to take on even more. While the idea of not returning to school next semester has not kicked in, it will sometime next week. I’m gonna miss you, UWSP.
For the time being, I will be working a full time job, taking on other projects, and working on my Adobe ACE certifications for a few programs (I’m already hitting the books for Flash Builder). As you can see, I’m already finding ways to occupy all the free time that would typically be filled with classes, homework, and other school related activities.
Expect to hear from me again soon, and by that I mean sometime next week. Until then, enjoy my blog post for WebMovement, LLC from last week. It’s about the importance of anchor text and anchor tags in relation to SEO.
Take care!
Hello all!
First off, what a great summer it has been! I’m really pleased with the increase in traffic my site has accrued over the summer months. Thank you all for making it possible. As you may have noticed, I’ve done some site re-vamping over the fast few weeks. One of the first things I did was remove the Links sub-category from the site in response to my observations on posting links in bulk. While not a major change, it did remove a whopping (sarcasm) 10 posts from my site. While many of you did enjoy the link posts, it was simply too excessive and broad for the average, content hungry reader.
I’ve also temporarily set up my portfolio page to re-direct to my projects category because I am going to be implementing SlideShowPro to my site within the coming weeks. I decided that this awesome utility would be the best way to capture some of my past work. Not only is it fully customizable, but it makes for a solid framework for any developer needing to implement a powerful slideshow solution to any site. As for the social media and SEO sections of my portfolio, I’m still up in the air about it, but have a few ideas that I’ll toss around and revise. Previously, I was using a plugin called WP Portfolio that sufficed for the time being, but I wanted more of a “wow” factor that this plugin just simply couldn’t provide. If you’re searching for a reasonable, no hassle solution, then I highly recommend WP Portfolio, especially for last minute job interviews. 
