Meta Descriptions: 5 ways to make them more effective
When you're choosing a book from a book store or library, chances are you'll read the back cover before deciding if the rest of the book is worth your time.
I know, retro right? But nothing beats the joy of opening up a proper paper book! Anyway - I got sidetracked 😅
My point is - meta descriptions act as the 'back cover' of your web-page.
They're the deciding factor in whether or not people choose your content over someone else's. So, they're important to get right!
They give your potential audience, and Google - a concise and simplified rundown of what to expect on your website. And while they don't play a direct role in your search engine ranking, they do play an important part in your website SEO (search engine optimisation - read up on SEO blogging).
Here are 5 ways you can utilize your meta descriptions:
Writing concise, compelling and relevant meta descriptions will increase your sites click-through-rate from search engines. So here are some ways you can make yours more effective.
Don't overlook them
I get it, we're all busy and so it's easy for meta descriptions to fall to the bottom of the list. Something we'll get round to fixing eventually. But writing effective meta descriptions is neither time-consuming nor difficult. Prioritising them and actually doing them properly will play a significant role in your web pages SEO. So, don't overlook them.
Make them compelling, concise and relevant
Some companies think they're being super smart and efficient by repeating one phrase or word over and over again on their meta descriptions, OR DOING IT ALL IN CAPS.
But this actually may hurt their SEO, and drive away website visitors. Even with the best intentions, this appears scammy and won't do you any favours. So, don't do this.
You may have heard the term keyword stuffing - ie. stuffing as many keywords as you can in a blog, web page or meta description. Search engines are onto it. They can figure out when you're just trying to boost your ranking by stuffing in too many keywords.
Instead - write something that'll grab peoples attention. An ideal meta description will read as a brief and compelling piece of copy that draws people in, sparks interest and makes people want to read more (while keeping CAPS and exclamation marks to a minimum).
Keep them short
Your ideal length for a meta description is 150-160 characters. So, play to that.
If you don't write a meta description, your website provider might create one for you using content from the webpage. But, this will be snipped at 160 characters. So, often, these don't serve as an accurate representation of what the page is actually about and can make your meta description a little confusing.
Keeping your meta description between 150 and 160 characters will ensure that you maximize the space available and avoid having your text cut off.
Use (don't abuse) important keywords
Again, this isn't a keyword stuffing opportunity. But, meta descriptions are a great chance to utilize important keywords.
Google puts keywords used in the search in bold in the meta descriptions that appear in search results. That makes this a great opportunity for you to use those targeted keywords (and location tags if they're relevant) in your meta descriptions.
Bold words stick out and draw the eye of people searching. Plus, they reinforce that your content is what they're looking for.
Use them as an opportunity to get creative
Please don't Copy+Paste your meta descriptions across all your web pages. Google picks up duplicate content as spam and it'll hurt your ranking.
Instead, go through each page and come up with something that's unique to each page. Write it based on what each page has to offer to your audience.
If you have similar pages (like separate pages for individual products), create a formula to systematically craft your meta descriptions based on the product name, brand, style or colour.
Want to increase your click-through-rate? Don't forget to utilise your meta descriptions.
You can thank me later.