Dumb SEO Questions

(Entry was posted by Paul Kerr on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 09/11/2013).

How can I change the text in organic listings?

I have a question that my X seo company will not provide to me.. This is it.
In the organic search results there is a listing that will show. And this listing was created by them . I want to change the text in the ad and I have know idea where the ad was created and how to make changes to it. If I had to guess, that would be Wordpress. I blog from that platform and have looked up and down for it there but have not found it. Any suggestions
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YOUR ANSWERS

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

  • Kyle Petzinger: Couple things: 1) you're positive it is an organic result? 2) click on it and see where it goes. If it's an organic result, the text is pulled from the meta title and meta description fields on the page/post. If it's actually an ad, it is editable by whomever created the ad.

    Maybe take a screen shot of what you're looking at? That might help out. 
  • Rob Wagner: What is the search term +Paul Kerr?
  • Paul Kerr: It is in the organic search results,,not PPC or places ads. Is this created in Wordpress since  ;the site is on this platform and blog
  • Paul Kerr: Electricians in charlotte
    here is what comes up

    Electricians in Charlotte NC | Call 1 Home Electrical 704-614-3420
    www.charlottehomeelectrical.com/‎
    Call 1 Home Electrical / Electricians in Charlotte NC serving Ballantyne & Electricians in Mecklenburg and Union Counties.
  • Kyle Petzinger: The short answer is yes, it is being generated by your website, which just so happens to be created in WordPress.

    If you want to change this to something else, you should be able to directly ask your SEO company (if they have access to your site) to change the title tag and the meta description. Keep in mind that the title tag should be no more than ~70 characters and the meta description should be no more than ~155-160 characters.
  • Rob Wagner: What is it you want to change? Looks like it is displaying the title and description.

    <title>Electricians in Charlotte NC | Call 1 Home Electrical 704-614-3420</title>
    <meta name="description" content="Call 1 Home Electrical / Electricians in Charlotte NC serving Ballantyne &amp; Electricians in Mecklenburg and Union Counties."/>
  • Kyle Petzinger: +Paul Kerr ; It looks like you have the Wordpress SEO by Yoast plugin installed. That makes things pretty easy. If you'd like to change this, simply log in (assuming you have administrator access), select SEO on the left, then select Titles & Metas. Click to the "Home" tab to change the title and meta description for the home page.

    I would NOT do any of the above if you're not comfortable with it. And if you do change anything, tell your SEO company before you make the change. Page titles and descriptions are a couple of the most important ranking factors.
  • Paul Kerr: I do not need to have those locations in the ad text. I wanted to make it more descriptive
    (serving ballantyne and so on,,,I would rather have "Helping you with all your electrical needs." Angies List, BBB.

    And Kyle, I have ask them to do this and its just not happening and when I ask to do this myself they do not respond. ;
    So the question is the same,,,Where would you find this to edit?
  • Kyle Petzinger: Refer to my previous comments with instructions how to change it. Aside from actually doing it for you, I'm not sure how I can be of any more help.
  • Paul Kerr: You would think that I could go into my Wordpress dashboard, All Post , and find this somewhere in this area. This is how I would find links to blogs and that is where I create the same type ad.
  • Kyle Petzinger: No. To change the title of the homepage, you need to go to the area I outlined earlier. Your homepage is entirely different from blog posts.
  • Rob Wagner: +Kyle Petzinger ;FYI the description is not an important ranking factor but it is important for increasing CTR. +Paul Kerr ;I think you will find the Yoast plugin on the side bar in the admin panel of WP. Login to the admin and look for the Yoast plugin. Find where the description is that you want to change. Like +Kyle Petzinger ;said before if you feel comfortably go ahead and make the change. Keep in mind that it will take Google sometime to show the updated description. ;
  • Paul Kerr: I think our post are just coming in on top of one another and not in order.
    Kyle I did go in the area instructed by you but I do not see that text as it is showing in the ad..It takes me to the home page. It says "Edit home page"
    & "Edit the blog page itself"
    Rob, Iam going to look in the area that you mentioned
  • Paul Kerr: Iam not seeing that text.
  • Rob Wagner: Try this +Paul Kerr ;and let me know if you can find it and make the changes that you want.
     ;https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rE3gP6-bcVoVAJEulKOT7QBkWqISwoVveXJqMiArMTc/edit
  • Ludi Roux: Paul.

    1. Log In
    2. Go to your Homepage - ;www.charlottehomeelectrical.com/‎
    3. Click on "Edit Page" in the grey admin bar at the top.
    4. In the edit page screen scroll down to "WordPress SEO by Yoast"
    5. Change your "SEO Title" and "Meta Description" to what you want it to be.

    If "WordPress SEO by Yoast" is not displaying then click on  ;"Screen Options" at the top and select "WordPress SEO by Yoast".

    It looks like you're website is using a page as your homepage, which means it will pull the meta data from that page.

View original question in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 09/11/2013).

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