Where does Google retrieve snippets from?

Google retrieves snippets from three different locations, namely: (i) META Description, (ii) Page content, and (iii) Open Directory Project (ODP). It is up to Google to choose what they think is the most relevant to the search query.

Can we control search snippets?

Yes, below are some ways of controlling them.

• Avoid duplicate title tags and META Descriptions. Having multiple pages with duplicate title and META Description can result to Google’s ranking of wrong pages or filtering of the desired META Description.

• Optimise your META Description. Make sure that it is relevant to the page and appears to be convincing to the target audiences or users and including the target keywords on it is helpful to your SEO.

• Block ODP Listings. If Google displays a different snippet and if you think it came from Open Directory Project then there is a META tag you can use in order to block Google from using the ODP listing. The META tag is: META Name="Robots" CONTENT="NOODP"

• If ever you want to block your snippet entirely for some reasons then this is the META tag to use: meta NAME="GOOGLEBOT" CONTENT="NOsnippet"

This should be done with CAUTION as this will entirely remove your snippet in search results.