Same text string for both Page Title and Meta Description.

Would this have a negative effect with Google?

[budbiss]

I plan to create a custom and unique text string for each of my pages, however I plan to use this string for both the Page Title and the Meta Description. Is it ok to do this? Or, will this trigger a negative effect?

Thanks!

[Quadrille]

They are there to do different things; they could be identical, but it's pretty unlikely (though certainly not the end of the world!)

Remember that the title and description will be displayed in different ways, and SEs and directories generally use them as they should be used.

If you use meta tags, it's generally best to follow the guidelines, or you may be missing out. For example, your description can be significantly longer than the title, and it should make sense as a complete sentence.

[budbiss]

Here is some additional info on this topic...

I am creating an ecommerce site. I was planning on making both the Page Title and Meta Description the same text string as the product name. The current site automatically generates a Page Title with the same name as the current product that is being viewed. I figured I'd just take it a step further and make the Meta Description the same as the product name as well.

[trinorthlighting]

I would not do that, fill that meta description up describing the page content. Spider food....Just keep it within the guidelines....

[Quadrille]

The current site automatically generates a Page Title with the same name as the current product that is being viewed. I figured I'd just take it a step further and make the Meta Description the same as the product name as well.

I don't see the logic.

If the site auto generates a page title from the product title, then surely the sensible approach would be to have the product description autogenerate a meta description? Maybe the first sentence, or first #*$! characters of the product description.

Additionally, you may be losing out with the auto-title; it would be a little more effective to have the title include "product name, category name and site name" (for example); to a mximim of about 80 characters.

These devilishly cunning content management systems can often fail to get the best from your content, and can seriously damage your site, if not set up optimally.