Description meta tags in public home and linked pages

Abstract

Random samples of 1,872 web pages registered with Yahoo! and 1,638 pages reachable from Yahoo!-registered pages were analyzed for use of meta tags and specifically those containing descriptions. Seven hundred twenty-seven (38.8 percent) of the Yahoo!-registered pages and 442 (27.0 percent) of the other pages included descriptions in meta tags. Some of the descriptions greatly exceeded typical length guidelines of 150 or two hundred characters. A relatively small number (ten percent of the registered and seven percent of the other pages) duplicated exactly phrasing found in the visible text; most repeated some words and phrases. Contrary to documented advice to web-page writers, pages with less visible text were less likely to have descriptions. Keywords were more likely to appear nearer the beginning of a description than nearer the end. Noun phrases were more common than complete sentences, especially in non-registered pages.