• Making the most of meta description tags
• Writing meta tags
• Meta description tag

And this is a nice article on writing page titles just to round off the subject. While titles are arguably not as imortant as descriptions they are still relevant:

• SEO page title tips

And what about meta keywords?

Well, the truth is that they are no longer very relevant at all. Still, if you would like to use them ensure that you use no more than about 5-6 words. Long lists of keywords are more likely to have your site flagged for spamming.

The difficulty arises when you ask “Why?”

It is a reasonable question, but a bit of an awkward one. And the reason is simply this: there is a great danger that website owners will make the assumption that a site that delights a visitor, will, of necessity, cause them to take some meaningful action.

Once again, why?

We all see a myriad of things in our daily lives that we might consider delightful, but that does not mean that we take any action as a result of the experience. For the most part we simply enjoy it and move on.

A reality check. In the end it is the task of all business websites to persuade their visitors to take some action. So while it is perfectly reasonable for a business website to delight its visitors, that in itself is not the end goal. The end goal is driven by a good old fashioned marketing thing called a “call to action”.

In summary, of course a website should delight and engage its visitors. Having done that however, if you want them to follow a pre-determined course of action, you are going to have to ask them – clearly, persuasively and nicely.

If your website is an important part of your business and you would like to sharpen the focus of your content, I can recommend Michael Gladkoff of Word Nerds. Effective copywriting really is one of the most effective drivers of a business website.

While images may delight – words can compel.