05-30-2008, 10:05 AM
Quote:Meta-tag descriptions and search behavior
Since some major search engines use meta-tag descriptions when displaying a page's (or file's) listing, it is important to write meta-tag descriptions that accomplish the following:
* Encourage searchers to click on the link to your web page
* Reinforce content that is already available (and visible to users) on the page
* Help to obtain top search engine positioning in the search results that use meta-tags to determine relevance
How listings are displayed in search results is very, very important. I often feel as if search engine advertisers have a better grasp of display effectiveness than SEO professionals. Snippet length and term highlighting greatly affect a listing's clickability...
full article: http://searchengineland.com/080529-075516.php