If you use a plugin (such as All-in-One SEO or Headspace) or theme option to manage your SEO on your WordPress website, be careful of using shortcodes at the beginning of your post.
By default, the majority of these plugins use the first 150 characters of the post content to generate the description meta-tag for search engines. So, if you start your post with a shortcode (e.g. for a video player), then the actual shortcode text will end up in your search engine listing.
To prevent this from happening, make sure to write a custom description for your post or page. Almost all of the SEO plugins and themes have a metabox under the post edit window that allows for a custom description (as well as title and keywords).
Did you enjoy this article?
Then why not sign up for email updates?
Daryl,
Thanks for this SEO “heads up!”. It’s a timely reminder for WordPress web site owners and bloggers. I’ll make sure to pass this tip along to my clients, mostly WordPress people also.
Regards,
Kate L Williams
Thanks for spreading the word, Kate.