Meta Data should be different and unique on every page. It should always be applicable to the page that it resides on. SEO analysers will have their own opinions on the best way to structure Meta Data but I feel that Meta Data should be structured as if the website were a restaurant menu.
That may sound a bit weird at first but bear with me…
When looking at a restaurant menu you can easily find what you are looking for when the menu has titles and separated into their relevant groups. At the very top of the menu, there is usually the Restaurants Brand/Name, this will be like the home page of the website, where your branding is predominantly shown. The Home Page of a site is a useful index, allowing for navigation to other categories that the viewer may be looking for.
So, what should the Home Page Meta Data display? Simply, the broadest search terms, people looking for a ‘Dentist in Bournemouth’ or a ‘Private Dental Practice in Christchurch’. We all know, when the viewer is looking for a dentist they are looking for something a bit more specific, such as treatments or a general check up. Therefore, the home page should be a useful place to begin, allowing them to navigate their way to the right treatment page for them.
Moving forwards with the restaurant menu analogy; what if the viewer/restaurant customer knows what they want more specifically? Fortunately, menu food items are separated into groups, for people looking for a burger, there’s a burger section, for those looking for a salad, there’s a salad section etc… Each of these sections is separated by their title, which is applicable to the content underneath.
So, to put this into dental terms, if a viewer is looking for teeth whitening treatment or dental implants, then the titles of those pages should be applicable to its content. After all, when people search for teeth whitening, they want to be directed to a teeth whitening page, not a home page meaning they have to navigate to the teeth whitening page.