Possible control of META 'DESCRIPTION' tag?

flyingdutchie · May 15, 2006

When google finds my site it displays this:

======================================================
Candid Pictures of Boston's Streets - "Streets of Boston ...
[SIZE=-1]The ultimate in photo sharing. Easily create online photo albums. Share, store, organize and print.
www.streetsofboston.com/ - 43k - Cached - Similar pages[/SIZE]
======================================================

The text "The ultimate in photo sharing. Easily create online photo albums. Share, store, organize and print." is not very inviting.... it looks like my site is trying to sell a service which it is not actually selling; My site is not selling a service to create online photo albums or to print pictures.

I found that the description is in the META tag DESCRIPTION:
<meta name="description" content="The ultimate in photo sharing. Easily create online photo albums. Share, store, organize and print." />

Is it possible, at least for for professional accounts, to change/control this meta-tag so that the site's description makes more sense?

Thanks!
-- Anton.

Andy · May 15, 2006

Thanks Anton, nothing's changed on this since the last time it was brought up. I'm sure that Onethumb will see it though!

asd · May 15, 2006

Count me in for a vote to being able to customize this somewhat.

I would love it if smugmug could intelligently and automatically pick something for this for different parts of the site. You could still prefix a short snip, like "Hosted by smugmug.", onto whatever dynamic description you generate, if you want. But having it actually relate to the page's content would be wonderful.

Cliff Photo · May 16, 2006

asd wrote:

Count me in for a vote to being able to customize this somewhat. I would love it if smugmug could intelligently and automatically pick something for this for different parts of the site. You could still prefix a short snip, like "Hosted by smugmug.", onto whatever dynamic description you generate, if you want. But having it actually relate to the page's content would be wonderful.

This is something I sent as a request via email a few months back, I'd love to see this happen. What shows up in a Google search is sooo important to a professionals website!

rainforest1155 · May 16, 2006

I would like to have that feature too.

Thanks,
Sebastian

Cammo · May 16, 2006

Count me in too - I had a picture editor mention to me only a couple of weeks ago "What is the deal with photo sharing? Can we get your library images for free?". I am pretty sure he was kidding but it shows, people read that description every time!

rainforest1155 · May 17, 2006

Cammo wrote:

Count me in too - I had a picture editor mention to me only a couple of weeks ago "What is the deal with photo sharing? Can we get your library images for free?". I am pretty sure he was kidding but it shows, people read that description every time!

Good point! :uhoh

Sebastian

jbstrick · June 9, 2006

I agree. I just had a client mention the same thing about the serach results. It may not be important to most Smugmug users, but the Pro's who depend on relevant search results this is very important.

Cammo · June 9, 2006

jbstrick wrote:

I agree. I just had a client mention the same thing about the serach results. It may not be important to most Smugmug users, but the Pro's who depend on relevant search results this is very important.

OneThumb? Any thoughts? This should really be something of a priority I think - Pro subscribers at the minimum HAVE to have some way of altering the meta tag description. It is cool how my search returns are appearing higher up the google listings but it is UNCOOL how they talk about photo sharing and creating folders rather than about me and my photos.

Awaiting your feedback... Anyone else care to chime in on this subject?

C_lawgik · June 9, 2006

interested in this also

Cammo · June 21, 2006

Bump - Can we get a Smugmug reply to this?

dogwood · June 21, 2006

I'd like to be able to change this too
This is a feature I've requested many times too. I'm sure there's a way for smugmug to have their cake and eat it too (ie a plug on google while still keeping us pro users happy). Keep in mind, smugmug code guys, happy pros will recommend your service to other photographers and that word of mouth is the best marketing you can get. But right now on photo forums when someone asks about smugmug, I have to be honest and say, "Awesome customer service, great support, print ordering capabilities, unlimited bandwidth, but your website description on google is an ad for smugmug-- not the contents of your website!"

Cammo · June 24, 2006

Well, we have a Smugmug reply - http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=332285&postcount=45

Andy · June 24, 2006

Cammo wrote:

Well, we have a Smugmug reply - http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=332285&postcount=45

Hey, if there's a way for having cake and eating it too, I'm all for it. I just think that in general, you might not be thinking this through all the way... but that's just my opinion.

I know that our product manager and engineers are aware of these requests.

I wish I had a better answer for you, I really do!

Golders · February 26, 2007

It's been 8 months since this was raised
Has the Smugmug response to this softened at all? It really would make sense if the description was customisable, especially for Pro subscribers.

Please please please please please

Andy · February 26, 2007

Golders wrote:

Has the Smugmug response to this softened at all? It really would make sense if the description was customisable, especially for Pro subscribers.

Please please please please please

Baldy posted this a few hours ago:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=492859#post492859

jfriend · February 26, 2007

Andy wrote:

Baldy posted this a few hours ago:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=492859#post492859

Andy, I don't think that post by Baldy has anything to do with Golders question. That post by Baldy talks about access to non-public galleries. This request is merely about control over the meta description tag to be able to control what description gets associated with our galleries by outside agents like search engines.

Andy · February 26, 2007

jfriend wrote:

Andy, I don't think that post by Baldy has anything to do with Golders question. That post by Baldy talks about access to non-public galleries. This request is merely about control over the meta description tag to be able to control what description gets associated with our galleries by outside agents like search engines.

That's been asked before, too - and the answer at the moment is no, there's not a way to affect any change in it. Sorry I don't have a better answer for you all right now.

ccraft · February 26, 2007

If it counts for anything (although it looks like this thread is almost over)... I'd also love to have this service for pro users (something where Smugmug's meta description comes second... after my own). I have no problem advertising for Smugmug. It's the greatest service for photographers ever... but I too am not selling photo sharing and, even though I'm starting to get really high in search engines for my website, the google desc. doesn't accurately tell the user what they are going to view when they click on the page.

Would it be possible to re-prioritize.. put the user's meta data first and smugmug's second. This shouldn't impact Smugmug's rankings, marketing, etc... but would be a great benefit to us pro users.

Just two cents.

Thanks!

Oh... and another option I'm exploring (as a suggestion to others until Smugmug is able to allow us to customize)... is to ask your Internet hosting servcie to add a sub-domain. For instance, my Smugmug account is www.naturestocklibrary.com and I asked for a sub-domain as photography.naturestocklibrary.com be added to my account. My provider gave me a small file space that I can at least put a few files on his server and all the links point to Smugmug. That way I can have a different homepage and register my non-smugmug page in Google... rather than my Smugmug address.

I'll be giving this a try over the next few days, but thought I'd pass it around as an idea for others.

Jerry Gowins · March 4, 2007

Meta tags
This came up about 6 months ago, and I'm wondering if anything has changed.

"Not sure if this can be done but I thought I would ask anyways. Someone was telling me that the meta tags help in the search engines. If I want clients to see me better, then I need to adjust my meta tags. But from what I am looking at, the meta tags are all smugmugs stuff. Is there a way to change this for my site at all??"

As a Pro account user I'd like to change some of them so the google (or whatever) search pops up me. Anyone visiting my site will see that it's a SmugMug site in the footer, so the advertising for SmugMug is there.

Jerry

Andy · March 4, 2007

Jerry Gowins wrote:

This came up about 6 months ago, and I'm wondering if anything has changed.

"Not sure if this can be done but I thought I would ask anyways. Someone was telling me that the meta tags help in the search engines. If I want clients to see me better, then I need to adjust my meta tags. But from what I am looking at, the meta tags are all smugmugs stuff. Is there a way to change this for my site at all??"

There is not, but thanks for telling us how important this is to you!

As a Pro account user I'd like to change some of them so the google (or whatever) search pops up me. Anyone visiting my site will see that it's a SmugMug site in the footer, so the advertising for SmugMug is there.

Jerry

Lots of pro searchability tips here: http://smugmug.jot.com/WikiHome/Pros

Jerry Gowins · March 4, 2007

Andy wrote:

There is not, but thanks for telling us how important this is to you!
Lots of pro searchability tips here: http://smugmug.jot.com/WikiHome/Pros

Can't say I'm not disappointed. While I appreciate all the help you've given me and the relative ease of getting a site started (the customization has my head spinning a bit though), I don't understand SmugMug's hard line stance on this. Seems to me there could be a way to satisfy both of our needs.

When I type "Carpe Lumen! Workshops" in Google, I get
SmugMug - The ultimate in photo sharing. Online photo albums ...

[SIZE=-1]Workshops · Welcome to my Website : Thank you for your interest in Carpe Lumen Photography and photographic · Welcome to my Website ...
www.carpe-lumen.net/ - Cached - Similar pages

Seems to me I should get my name and workshop first, Smugmug info second.

[/SIZE]

Andy · March 4, 2007

Jerry Gowins wrote:

Can't say I'm not disappointed. While I appreciate all the help you've given me and the relative ease of getting a site started (the customization has my head spinning a bit though), I don't understand SmugMug's hard line stance on this. Seems to me there could be a way to satisfy both of our needs.

When I type "Carpe Lumen! Workshops" in Google, I get
SmugMug - The ultimate in photo sharing. Online photo albums ...

[SIZE=-1]Workshops · Welcome to my Website : Thank you for your interest in Carpe Lumen Photography and photographic · Welcome to my Website ...
www.carpe-lumen.net/ - Cached - Similar pages

Seems to me I should get my name and workshop first, Smugmug info second.

[/SIZE]

It's not a hard-line stance at all. It's just the way it is, now. If there's a way to change it, we'll do it. We haven't been able to address that yet.

In the meantime, there a loads of ways to get your site found, and our customers enjoy a very high google position when following our suggestions.

Thanks for telling us how important it is to you!

Jerry Gowins · March 4, 2007

Andy wrote:

It's not a hard-line stance at all. It's just the way it is, now. If there's a way to change it, we'll do it. We haven't been able to address that yet.

In the meantime, there a loads of ways to get your site found, and our customers enjoy a very high google position when following our suggestions.

Thanks for telling us how important it is to you!

Thanks for link to your tips. I just registered with Google. Perhaps that will help.

Thanks for listening!

Jerry

TheEventGuy · May 11, 2007

Andy wrote:

It's not a hard-line stance at all. It's just the way it is, now. If there's a way to change it, we'll do it. We haven't been able to address that yet.

In the meantime, there a loads of ways to get your site found, and our customers enjoy a very high google position when following our suggestions.

Thanks for telling us how important it is to you!

I'm also a Pro user, and figured I'd add my unsolicited 10 cents to the mix <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/clap.gif" border="0" alt="" >

Is this truly a technical issue?? I suspect not, given the awesome wizardry that the SM coders have already achieved, I'm guessing that anyone that has spent anytime working with server-side scripting (php, asp, coldfusion, et al) knows that the META tag set can be dynamically generated as simply as any other variable or string substitution.

<RANT>
If it is really a technical issue, then I'm befuddled, because the SM team really are smart guys. If it's not, and it's more about promoting SM to the masses then just say so, at least then people will stop asking <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="" >. There's an old phrase which says:

If you tell the people nothing about a problem, then that's exactly what they'll assume you're doing to solve it!

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but whenever this topic appears, the cryptic non-answers are probably more frustrating than simply being told to deal with it.
</RANT>

After all that I've said though, SM still rocks and offers superb value for money, keep up the great work, love the site, and natural disasters aside, I should be renewing for my 3rd year of Pro SM in the next 14 days. Nothing spells satisfaction like handing over the cash <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/wings.gif" border="0" alt="" >

T.

Andy · May 11, 2007

TheEventGuy wrote:

I'm also a Pro user, and figured I'd add my unsolicited 10 cents to the mix <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/clap.gif" border="0" alt="" >

Is this truly a technical issue?? I suspect not, given the awesome wizardry that the SM coders have already achieved, I'm guessing that anyone that has spent anytime working with server-side scripting (php, asp, coldfusion, et al) knows that the META tag set can be dynamically generated as simply as any other variable or string substitution.

<RANT>
If it is really a technical issue, then I'm befuddled, because the SM team really are smart guys. If it's not, and it's more about promoting SM to the masses then just say so, at least then people will stop asking <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="" >. There's an old phrase which says:

If you tell the people nothing about a problem, then that's exactly what they'll assume you're doing to solve it!

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but whenever this topic appears, the cryptic non-answers are probably more frustrating than simply being told to deal with it.
</RANT>

After all that I've said though, SM still rocks and offers superb value for money, keep up the great work, love the site, and natural disasters aside, I should be renewing for my 3rd year of Pro SM in the next 14 days. Nothing spells satisfaction like handing over the cash <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/wings.gif" border="0" alt="" >

T.

Hi, we think we're being pretty transparent about what we're working on... we're busy at present with Stock Photos, Search Islands, SmugMungous right now. I suspect after these three major projects, there might be time for the Sorcerers to stop and say something about this. Until then, I don't bug them

Saying nothing about META stuff right now doesn't mean it's not important, I promise. We hear you guys <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="" >

Kory Lidstrom · September 4, 2007

Any progress been made on this issue? It's been awhile.

Andy · September 4, 2007

NugBlazer wrote:

Any progress been made on this issue? It's been awhile.

Try putting some descriptive code in your bio box

You'll see the result if you view page source.

ladylaura · September 26, 2007

Hiya,

I'm just getting geared up about search engine optimization and I had to agree with TheEventGuy's questions in his rant above. The same thoughts had crossed my mind.

From the looks of it, this issue has been, well, an issue for over a year.

No middle ground has been reached in that long time? I wouldn't mind having a small snipit for smugmug in the tag, but I really need my info to be first.

denisegoldberg · September 26, 2007

ladylaura wrote:

Hiya,

I'm just getting geared up about search engine optimization and I had to agree with TheEventGuy's questions in his rant above. The same thoughts had crossed my mind.

From the looks of it, this issue has been, well, an issue for over a year.

No middle ground has been reached in that long time? I wouldn't mind having a small snipit for smugmug in the tag, but I really need my info to be first.

This was changed a while back, can't tell you exactly when.

You just need to put your info into your bio. If you do a search for my name (denise goldberg), the entry for my smugmug galleries is tagged with the site name that I assigned it, and the text in the entry is directly from my bio. I've included a screen shot of the results of a search in Google for my name.

I can't tell you how long it will take for the bio to be indexed by the search engines, but it will happen.

--- Denise

ladylaura · September 27, 2007

Thanks. I'm planning on doing this anyway, but it still means my info will be second and smugmug's first for the search engines to see. This makes a difference.

Possible control of META 'DESCRIPTION' tag?

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