Changing Meta Data - will it affect my Google Ranking??

[Lightfoot82]

Hi Guys,

I submitted to google a couple of weeks ago and too my utter suprise my website is up appears on the top page of google searching for some terms which i over the moon about.
However i placed a meta description in there and now wish to alter it - will this lower my place in google or should it not matter?

I have left the original text in there but just added more to it.

Thanx Guys

[gimbras]

Just adding a couples of lines, I think it will not affect it at all.

Try and see.

[andyshep]

depends on what you are removing .
The description should contain your keywords and they should be as close to the begining as possible.
if you remove the keyword that is achieving your high ranking it WILL hurt your ranking.

[leocharre]

Only the first 255 characters of the meta description will be read by most search engine "spiders".
Just make sure that your title, your meta description and meta keywords.. all match the *content* of your webpage. If not, you will be penalized by google.
Also, this has diddly squat to do with pagerank.
All this has to do with is that search engine robots actually know what is in the pages. That's all. Your google ranking is not affected by the content of your pages, but by what and who links to that page.

[andyshep]

no that is so wrong!!!!
google ranking of your pages is mostly dependant on your content!

for example if you had a page with no content but lots of links in and out do you really think google will give you a high ranking.
who links to your pages can effect your ranking. but the content is paramount.

andy

[rsd]

I think what leocharre meant to say is that your pagerank in google is not affected by the content of your pages, but by what and who links to that page. It is also called your link popularity. The sites actual rankings in the serach engine results page IS dependent on content though as well as link popularity.

[gimbras]

... by what and who links to that page...

Who or what? Are there sites more important than others?

For instance is a portal more important than a regular site.

[BigMoosie]

I site with a higher google ranking is more important than one with a lower pagerank.

And for Lightfoot82, You can be very safe that it will not effect it. I had a site that was about web-design with a google rank of 5 and when I sold the site to my brother (for the soul purpose of its good pagerank) and the keywords were changed he was at the top of google for his search terms.

[gimbras]

you sell sites to your own relatives ?



nice business
what is that site?

[BigMoosie]

My brother is making $200 000 a year and hear I am making by with pittens! Anyway a site with a high ranking like that is valuable to me too so I needed compensation to part with it.

[gimbras]

I don't blaim you!
Would the same if I was you.