One of the most important and overlooked items in a search engine's usability are the titles and descriptions on the result pages. Because any monkey can code HTML and any baboon can make a program to do it for them, html code sucks. Every page has different code and many are riddled with mistakes. For an example, go to the World Wide Web Consortium's HTML validator and run a test on www.google.com - 106 errors last time I checked.
So it's inevitable that bad titles and descriptions, or none at all, are common. The advent of Content Management Systems should have solved this but they just complicated it by using templates with THE SAME METADATA ON EVERY PAGE.
Luckily, now some are getting the point and allowing authors and editors to add or manipulate their own titles and descirptions. Great! But I get the question, what are 'best practices' for titles and descriptions for my pages?
Well, here are some guidelines.
1) If your enterprise search engine can do it (of course MondoSearch can) make Meta tags titles and descriptions specifically for it. Many companies want to put their company name in every title so global search users can identify the pages. These seems ok to me but local search doesn't want to see that. Make a <meta name="local-title" content="title"> tag and tell your enterprise search engine to pick it up and use it. Same goes for Descriptions
2) Titles should be short 1-3 words are best. People don't like to read. They just want to catch the point of the document and move on if it's not the one they are looking for. Every document usually has one overal theme - find a way to describe it. If the document is about catching rats title it 'Rat catching'.
3) A description should be a little longer than a title but not much (5-8 words). You want to describe what the document is about so the users can differentiate it with other similarly titled ones but you don't need to explain the entire document. If your rat catching document is about calling your local pest control authority to catch your rats, describe it as such.
4) Avoid marketing 'Mumbo-Jumbo'. Long descriptions about how wonderful your products are is not going to impress anyone and just confuse most - avoid it totally.
Here is an example of a site that has some pretty good titles and descriptions and they help you, usually, find the right information.
London Borough of Lewisham
Check it out! Try searching for 'Council Tax', 'Jobs', or 'Recycling' - some of the most popular queries.