How to Use Meta Descriptions for Greater SEO Impact
It’s possible to consider meta description the unnoticed superheroes of Seo Meta Descriptions. They’re often overlooked as marketers don’t fully appreciate their importance as a factor in the organic search traffic. They tend to focus in other areas of SEO such as keywords and tags. Then, they concentrate on off-page SEO, such as creating a strong backlink profile via guest posts and outreach.
How can meta descriptions aid your site to gain more organic visitors?
Meta descriptions are essential in convincing users to visit your website, and linking search intent and relevance. Think of them as an chance to draw the attention of visitors by clearly explaining that your site provides the most relevant results in relation to what they’re looking for.
What Are Meta Descriptions?
From a backend view From a backend perspective, from the backend’s perspective, Meta explanation is the brief piece of text that appears as a meta tag within the web page’s HTML code. It provides a brief description of what a particular page’s contents are.
From a user’s perspective From a user’s perspective, the meta description is the short description that you find under the title tag as well as the page Slug for every search result on the SERPs. It’s an version of the headline, which is included within the pages HTML code. It does not necessarily need to match the headline in the webpage. The slug is the URL for the page. Along together with title tags and the slug, the meta description is a part of the snippet you will see in search results.
Other websites provide a snippet of the snippetof text:
- The tab of a browser will display the title tag
- Posts on social media that link to the page’s Meta description as well as the title tag.
Meta descriptions are unique in the sense that they’re designed specifically to describe the content to users of search engines or search engines. They can just pull them straight from the main body text.
Here’s the SEOblog meta description for their homepage appears to be:
If you click on the SEOblog’s homepage , and then click “View Page Source,” you’ll see the code of the page as well as the meta description that was added:
How Meta Descriptions Help Your Website’s SEO
Internet users must sort through tons of data to discover the site that provides the information they’re seeking and also answers their questions. Imagine that meta description like an advertisement why your website is able to satisfy the searcher’s needs. It’s telling them that “here’s the reason my website will provide you with the most relevant content, based on your search keywords.”
A study has found that approximately 75 percent of websites that rank among the top 10 contain meta descriptions and there’s an association between the presence in meta description and higher SERP rankings. Higher your SERP rank is, the greater your click-through rate.
That leads the next issue More traffic.
The more traffic your site gets, the higher the SERP rank. This is evident in the Semrush study which found that direct web-based visits are the most important ranking factor in SERPs. Direct traffic is superior to other ranking factors that are important, such as:
- Time on site
- Pages per session
- Rate of bounce
- Total referring domains
The link between direct visit and higher SERP rankings are more causal in this case.
It’s generally more accurate to consider meta descriptions as not directly contributing to better SEO, but. Meta description indirectly can lead to improved SEO through:
- Increased visibility
- More click-throughs
- More traffic
Actionable Tips on How to Write Effective Meta Descriptions
The meta description of your website must be compelling, so that users click through to your site. It must be clear and easily communicate the message of your site.
Use these guidelines to write an effective description.
Choose Length Carefully
Meta descriptions are cut down in the event that they’re too long which can cause problems since the most important details could be omitted. This is particularly true for mobile devices where screen size limitations are more severe. This raises the question: is there an ideal size? Google’s maximum is around 920px for desktops and 680px on mobile devices. This means a top limit of 150 characters on desktops and 110 characters for mobile.
However however, an Semrush study showed that an extended description that was reduced in length led to an increase of 36 percent in click-throughs. But, be sure to play it safe by limiting your descriptions to fifty and 160 characters in order to accommodate any size screen without cutting them down.
Ensure No Duplication
Do not duplicate your meta descriptions as it can cause confusion for visitors to your website as well as search engine. This is essentially wasting the opportunity to convince users to visit different pages. Google will only index a particular meta tag once. Duplication results in less click-throughs due to the fact that user behaviour is a guideline to ensure that people don’t go to a page that contains similar information.
To make sure you don’t have duplicates or to rectify the problem if there are conduct an audit of your site using tools such as Semrush and Alexa’s SEO Audit Tool.
Include Your Keyword
Include the keywords that you’re targeting. Similar to every other copy, make sure you don’t keyword-doo. Your description should sound as natural as it can be. This will ensure that your description is easy to read.
The keyword must be the same principal keyword you’re using on the copy of the page on the page to which your description will take you.
Do Competitor Research
Before you write your description take a look at you can improve the descriptions on your competition appear on the first page of search results for your keywords are read. Don’t copy the descriptions of your competitors. Instead, you should look for patterns in these descriptions that rank high that can assist you in writing your own strong description.
Take an examination of the number of SERP meta descriptions have the exact keywords for which you’re trying to improve. Are they using variations instead? Are they making use of active voice more than passive? Are they too short or are they coming within the words limit?
Understanding these elements should help you decide the way you write your description.
Use a Call-to-Action
The call-to action (CTA) isn’t just for eCommerce websites or newsletters sent via email. It’s also a great strategy to use for Meta description. The point of a call-to-action is to get your user to perform the desired action and that’s to visit the real page.
Additionally when you make an action call using an urgency word such as “today,” you stand more chance of getting the user to click.
Examples of Websites That Do It Right
Here’s a quick summary of meta descriptions for pages that highlight some of the principles that are winning we discussed earlier.
WordStream
WordStream is a company for search marketing that makes advertising on the internet easy for companies.
The meta description of the site is in line with the desktop’s character limit of 256 characters This results in a brief and to-the-point value statement without any reduction in.
Dog Food Advisor
Dog Food Advisor’s goal is to help dog owners take the correct choices regarding the type of dog food they purchase for their pet.
The meta description of the site is optimized its meta description to include “best dog food,” which is also the key word it’s trying to be found for, as evident by its appearance inside the title. This technique works because it ranks first on the SERPs with “best dog food.”
BMW of Reading
The BMW dealership located in Reading, PA, uses active words in the meta description. Its call-to-action draws users to the website and create your own BMWs.
The benefit is the inclusion in the description of “today” in the description that prompts searchers to take action urgently and not let the chance be missed.
Meta Description Tools That Are Useful
Here’s a list of tools you could make use of to improve the process of writing meta descriptions.
Mangool’s Google SERP Simulator
This simulator shows you how your meta description will appear like when you post it online. It also informs you whether the description is too long for desktop or mobile devices and will therefore be cut down.
A different SERP application, the one offered by Portent is unique because it allows you to select the exact size of the screen for the description simulation. It covers everything from desktops to different models and models of smartphones.
To The Web’s Title & Description Pixel Checker
This tool can inspect titles, tags, slugs, and meta description. The tool also has an area where you can examine whether the title is of good quality or length. the PDF title.
Although Semrush is a thorough SEO tool it also helps you identify problems on your site. One of these SEO issues are repeated meta description descriptions.
Alexa’s tool analyzes your site for issues that could prevent your website from being highly ranked on SERPs. You can fix technical issues such as duplicate meta descriptions easily.
Wrapping Up
Meta descriptions are billboards for your pages. The more convincing your description is, the more convincing it is. While it’s unlikely to have an impact directly on the SERP ranking of your site but it has an indirect impact on the results. This is why it’s essential to consider the meta descriptions as an integral component of your SEO on-site.
You now know the significance for a Meta description, and the steps to create an effective one.You might consider meta descriptions the untold the heroes of SEO. They’re often overlooked as marketers aren’t always aware of their role in the organic search traffic. A lot of them focus upon other elements of SEO such as keywords and tags. Then, they concentrate on off-page SEO. This includes building a solid backlink profile via guest posts and outreach.
What exactly are meta descriptions help your site increase organic traffic?
Meta descriptions are vital in persuading people to click through to your website, and linking search intent and relevance. Consider them as an chance to draw the attention of users by clearly stating that your site is the most relevant search result to what they’re searching for.
What Are Meta Descriptions?
From a perspective of the backend from the perspective of the backend
meta description
is the snippet of text which appears as a meta tag within the webpage’s HTML code. It provides a brief explanation of what the page’s content is.
From the perspective of the user From a user’s perspective, the meta description is the description that appears under the title tag as well as the page slugs for every search result on the SERPs. Title tags are an variation of the headline of a page which is included within the pages HTML code. It does not have to be identical to the headline that you see within the web page. The Slug is the URL for the page. Along along with the tag title and the slug, the meta description is a part of the snippet you will see on SERPs.
Other websites provide a snippet of the clipping:
The browser’s tab will display the title tag
Social media posts that are shared on the page’s Meta description as well as the title tag.
Meta descriptions are unique because they’re created specifically to describe the content to users of search engines or search engines. They can just pull them directly from the page’s body text.
Here’s the SEOblog meta description of its homepage appears to be:
If you click on the SEOblog’s homepage , and then click “View Page Source,” you’ll be able see the code of the page and the meta description added:
How Meta Descriptions Help Your Website’s SEO
Users of the internet must sift through tons of data to locate the best site that provides the information they’re looking for and can answer their questions. Imagine that meta description like an advertisement for the reasons why your website is able to satisfy the user’s search criteria. It’s telling them that “here’s the reason my website will provide you with the most relevant content, based on your search keywords.”
According to a study around 75 percent of websites rank among the top 10
have a meta description
So there’s a link between meta descriptions and more SERP positions. If you have a higher SERP ranking is, the greater your click-through rate.
This is what brings me onto my final issue I’m going to talk about more traffic.
The more visitors your website draws, the better SERP rank. This is evident in an
Semrush study
It concluded that direct web visits are the most important ranking factor for SERPs. Direct traffic outranks other ranking factors important to rank like:
Time on site
Pages per session
Rate of bounce
Total referring domains
The connection between direct visits and better SERP rankings is more likely to be the cause here.
In the end, it’s better to consider meta descriptions and not see them as directly contributing to better SEO performance, but. Meta descriptions can be more effective in boosting SEO.
Indirectly
can improve SEO through:
Increased visibility
More click-throughs
More traffic
Actionable Tips on How to Write Effective Meta Descriptions
The meta description of your website must be compelling, so that people are able to click on your site. It must be clear and easily communicate the purpose of your website.
Use these guidelines for writing a good description.
Choose Length Carefully
Meta descriptions can be cut short when they’re too long this can be a problem because the most important details might be left out. This is particularly the case on mobile devices where screen size limitations are more severe. This raises the question: is there a minimum length that is ideal? Google’s limit is 920px for desktops and 680px on mobile devices. This is equivalent to a maximum limit of 158 characters for desktop and 110 characters on mobile.
However however, an Semrush study revealed that
A longer description that was reduced in length resulted in an increase of 36 percent in click-through-rate
. However, be safe by limiting your descriptions to 150 and 160 words so that you can be able to fit on any screen size , without any truncation.
Ensure No Duplication
Do not duplicate your meta descriptions because it creates confusion for visitors to your website as well as search engine. This is a way to convince users to visit other websites, and Google will only index a specific meta tag only once. Duplication can also lead to an eroding of click-through rates since user behavior is a guideline to ensure that people don’t go to a page with similar information.
To make sure that there aren’t any duplicates, or rectify them if they have, conduct an audit of your site using tools such as Semrush and Alexa’s SEO Audit Tool.
Include Your Keyword
Include the
Keyword
you’re targeting. Similar to any other piece of content, make sure that you do not keyword-stuff. The goal is to make your description sound as natural as it can be. This helps ensure readability.
The keyword must be the primary keyword you’re using on the copy of the page on the page to which your description will take you.
Do Competitor Research
Before you write your description, take a look at they’re describing their competition appear on the first page of search results for your search term are written. It is not advisable to duplicate the descriptions of your competitors. Instead, you should check out if you can identify patterns in these top-ranked descriptions which could aid you in writing a compelling one.
Take note of the number of SERP meta descriptions have the exact keywords for which you’re trying to improve. Are they using different variations? Are they making use of active voice more than passive? Are they too short or do they fit close to the word limit?
Understanding these aspects should guide how you write your descriptions.
Use a Call-to-Action
The call-to action (CTA) isn’t just for eCommerce websites or newsletters sent via email. It’s also a useful strategy to use for the meta descriptions you use. The point of a call-to-action is to get your user to perform the action you desire that is, visit the real page.
Additionally when you make a call-to-action using an urgency word like “today,” you stand better chance of convincing people to click through.
Examples of Websites That Do It Right
Here’s a quick summary of meta descriptions for pages that highlight some of the most effective principles we mentioned earlier.
WordStream
WordStream is an online search marketing firm which makes online advertising simple for companies.
The meta description of the site is in line with the limit of characters on desktops this results in a brief and to-the-point value statement without any reduction in.
Dog Food Advisor
Dog Food Advisor’s goal is to make sure that dog owners take the correct choices regarding the type of dog food they purchase for their pets.
The meta description of the site is optimized its meta description to include “best dog food,” which is also the key word it’s trying to be found for, as evident by its inclusion within the URL. This technique works because the page is ranked in the first SERP search results with “best dog food.”
BMW of Reading
The BMW dealership located in Reading, PA, uses active words in the meta description. Its call-to-action encourages users to go to the website and create the their very own BMWs.
The benefit is the inclusion that the term “today” in the description which prompts users to act immediately and not let this opportunity be missed.
Meta Description Tools That Are Useful
Here’s a list of the tools you can utilize to help you optimize the process of writing meta descriptions.
Mangool’s Google SERP Simulator
This simulator lets you see what the meta description of your post will appear like when you publish it online. It also informs you whether the description is too long for both desktops and mobile, and therefore will be cut in half.
Portent’s SERP Preview Tool
A different SERP application, the one offered by Portent is unique because it allows you to select the size of screen you want for the description simulation. It can be used on everything from desktops to mobile phones.
To The Web’s Title & Description Pixel Checker
This tool can examine the title tag as well as the meta description, slug and title tag. Additionally, it has an area where you can test how long and quality of the PDF title.
Semrush
Although Semrush is a thorough SEO tool and site audit tool, it can help you identify problems on your site. One of these SEO issues is repeated meta description descriptions.
Alexa’s Site Audit Tool
Alexa’s tool analyzes your site for issues which can prevent your site from ranking highly on SERPs. You can fix technical issues such as duplicate meta descriptions in a matter of minutes.
Wrapping Up
Meta descriptions are billboards to promote your site’s pages. The more convincing your description is, the more convincing it is. Although it’s unlikely to have an impact directly on the SERP ranking of your site but it has an indirect impact on the results. It is therefore essential to consider the description of your meta page as a crucial part of your SEO for your site.
Now you understand the importance for a meta-description as well as how to write an effective one.
