Getting a Good Description
When submitting a site to BOTW (or almost any directory) you have the opportunity to add a site description. Some do it well, some don’t. Herewith is a list of some considerations.
Why Submit A Descrip? (Think Big Picture)
Won’t the editor just re-write it anyway? Depends on what you send. If the submitted descrip accurately describes the site and generally conforms to editing standards, it stands a high chance of being used.
I can’t make any promises what effect any directory will have on your rankings elsewhere, but for heavens sake, let’s go on the assumption it helps to write a description that will help people find your site.
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
If you do not add a descrip, you’re simply telling the editor that recieves it you’ll be happy with whatever they put there. Why do that? There’s no reason to skip adding a description, if you do a good one the editor might use it. Must enter to win.
Avoiding Common Errors
Title Case Descriptions
Seriously… You Wouldn’t Want To Read A Paragraph Formatted Like This Would You? It Is Harder To Read, So It Isn’t Even In Your Best Interest To Send It Like This. Save Yourself.
[AND OF COURSE, ALL-CAPS IS JUST AS BAD.]
Sending Your “USUAL Description”
It helps to have a unique description. Cutting and pasting the one you have in a bunch of other directories isn’t really in your interest or ours.
Sending A Book
Look at the category where your site will probably reside. If the descriptions are all one or two lines long… how likely is it the next one added will have a descrip the length of War & Peace? It isn’t happening. Send a book, it’s the equivalent of not sending a description. The editor will probably erase it and start over.
Mission Statement as Description
You just submitted a site for Wee, Fleecum, & Flee, LLC, practicing law in Martha’s Vinyard. Maybe someday your hopes and dreams will come true and it’ll rank well for terms contained in sentences that begin…
“Proactive firm with expanded world view and a commitment to excellence, striving to support hollistic approaches to (bla bla bla)”.
That said, I hope you don’t depend on the net with descrips like that, cause you’re screwed.
Seriously, wouldn’t you be better with 1 -2 lines including terms like “attorney”, “product liability”, and “Martha’s Vinyard”? Leave the Mission statement on the wall (to show that you got something from the guys in wingtips in return for the $50 grand), but write descrips based on real world keywords.
Keyword Stuffing
WidgetWorld is the site of a premier widget manufacturer. Offers left handed widgets, right handed widgets, big widgets, small widgets, and many more types of widgets, all available on this widgety site about widgetness and widgeousity.
I don’t feel a need to explain why that one would be erased. Adding appropriate keywords is good. Repeating ‘em incessantly is not.
Superlatives / Personal Notes / Calls to Action
The world’s finest this-or-that is hard to prove. We probably won’t include it, so if you send us a bunch of subjective BS when submitting, you might as well have left it blank.
Same goes for personal messages suggesting the person “Come to this site to experience world class (whatever)”. Use the description to tell what the site is about. You can do calls to action on the site itself, not in the description. It looks unprofessional on our end to include that stuff.
What DO We Want?
A quick line or two, (maybe 3 if short) explaining the business and site. Include some good keywords that flow naturally in real sentences and you’re on the right track. Before sending, try reading the descrip aloud to see if it reads well.
Win-Win
Hope this helps. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have on the topic, but it’s pretty simple stuff. It’s in your interest and ours to have a decent description, and if you submit a unique description we can work with AND it accomplishes what you want, we all win. Saves us time and helps you at the same time.
Regards ~ Rob Jones
