bumping this post

Though I've had decent results with duplicate tags, unique meta tags really jack up your SERP rankings. I usually automate the process by using the page title as the meta description.

Meta Tag is most important aspect in getting good Search engine ranking position, if you create different meta for each page then definitely you will get some fantastic results.

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I find it hard to believe that you can't create detailed descriptions for each item.

If they are exactly the same item you would only have a single sales page.

I can give a detailed description of a simple metal bolt (fastener).

[example]
1) Bolt length
2) Bolt diam.
3) Thread pitch
4) Left or right thread angle
5) Fine or course threads
6) Socket Cap head
7) Socket cap size (allen bolt size)
8) Metal grade (automotive, etc...)

If I can get that detailed on a simple bolt, I find it hard to believe your products details can't be broke down like the example above.

BTW, I was a machinist for 9 years.

BTW, I run a few download sites similar to image galleries. If you think you have it rough trying to create unique titles/descriptions, try creating the same for hundreds of pages over multiple sites (all by hand). You'll get very detailed + creative after a while.

You've gotta have unique titles without a doubt!

You've also gotta have a unique description for each product if you don't want to get Google slapped at some point.

At my old company we saw several ecommerce sites lose DRASTIC rankings as a result of having very thin ecommerce websites. We had warned those clients for close to a year that they needed to change the way they had their websites. Tons of dynamically driven keywords within the same bodies of text found throughout the site. Little to no customer reviews, which are a great way to get unique content!

Needless to say, until they began adding new content and actually making a worthwhile ecommerce site they didn't regain their rankings. After FINALLY taking our advice most rankings all came back.

You know what the main reason for why they didn't want to create unique descriptions? It costs too much money, it takes too much time.

I can assure you that the overall lose in revenue from NOT doing it was far greater than taking the time or spending the money to do it right the first time.

You used the SEO plugin.Which automatic add the meta tag in every pages.

Which CMS you are using for your site?

The reason to have a unique title/description is to avoid getting into Google's supplemented results.

One of my client is facing the same problem where his website has 1,870 indexed in Google but after 900 results, Google shows the message of supplement results which is due to duplicate desc/title.

I should note that meta data is data about data, in other words the meta tags describe the data on the page. Meta data includes the keyword tags (reputed to be worthless), the title, description, Alt tags and so forth. Unique optimization of all these tags can only help your site rankings. I know it is hard to provide unique titles, descriptions and so forth and I am guilty of not doing this when I get lazy. You will however benefit from it over time, especially if the content on each page is in sync with that meta info.

In regards to the description it may not help in SEO, but it helps in generating a click on your link. A well written description can get someone to click when they hear a good overview of the page content. Yes, on occasions Google simply ignores what you have and picks what they think is best. And sometimes it makes no sense! My theory on this issue is to make sure your description is well done right from the start. If your page is indexed without a description I think it's hard for a new one to take it's place. No hard data, just an observation.

Bottom line, if you don't think your content and pages are unique by using the same meta info on each page then neither will Google.

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RevSEO and Redlegrich make excellent points.
I specialize in writing product copy for ecommerce websites. I offer both Meta title and Meta descriptions with the product descriptions because after years of SEO writing I know that taking the time to do them right from the start is vital in terms of search results and potential sales.
The Meta title is the title you see across the top of your website page. If you look up on this page you’ll see the title of your post, which is “Unique meta and title tags?” It came up in my search because it’s relevant to my search terms: ecommerce product descriptions.
Let’s say your product is a “Nightmare Skull Lighter”. You could just put the name of the lighter as a Mega title or you can add a “salesy” touch like: “Charm him with a new Nightmare Skull Lighter today.” Your Meta title should be 12 words or less to fit across the page without getting cut off.
The Meta Description is a great chance to include keywords/key phrases. If possible I often use a version of the term twice, in 2 separate sentences. (More than that is considered stuffing.)
Using the same lighter as an example, I would write something like: “Nightmare Skull Lighters are made by xyzcompany and come with a lifetime guarantee. Buy a Nightmare Lighter for your favorite Jack Skellington fan.” I keep these 24 words or less so that the whole description fits on the page, otherwise it will get cut off and have “…” at the end of it. As mentioned, if you don’t supply a Meta description Google will just put random content there, which doesn’t always make sense.
Now, if you’re searching for a lighter and a list of website choices comes up…which site are you likely to choose? One with a description that corresponds with your search phrase that makes an effort to show you that they want you for a customer or one that has strange looking content under the title? Hint: One looks professional and offers something to a potential customer, one doesn’t!
Hope this helps.

IMO, you're much better off not having any meta description tags than to have duplicate descripton tags.

Google doesn't use the descrption tag in ranking, only for (sometimes) displaying in the SERPs.

IMO, instead of worrying about creating 100s of description tags, spend that time getting links.

Unique Meta and title tags it is very high effect SERP.

As long as your description and titles are relevant to your products, you can proceed. But do not try to fool search engines, else Google webmaster tools will show you errors of duplicate tags.

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