7 steps to the perfect Meta Description
A meta description is a preview, a small enticing text that appears in search results under a link to a page. By reading the description, the user understands the approximate content of the page and determines whether he needs to visit it. How to write a high-quality meta description, does this tool affect SEO optimization and why you need it at all – read on.
Content:
How meta description works: what are Title and Description site tags, snippet
How to write a meta description: meta name, description, content
Impact of Meta Description on SEO Optimization
7 steps to the perfect meta description
- Step 1: Identify the pages for which you want to write a meta description
- Step 2: Build Your Meta Description Tag With Your Title
- Step 3: Keep it short – a must for a meta description
- Step 4: use the impetus for action
- Step 5: Write in the meta description what users want to read there
- Step 6: use keywords
- Step 7: Include USP in the Description for the perfect meta description
conclusions
How meta description works: what are Title and Description site tags, snippet
The Title tag is the title of the page in the browser, which is displayed in search results and is taken into account by the search engine when ranking the site. Thus, “title” influences the determination of the relevance of a page to search queries.
Technically speaking, a meta description is a snippet of the HTML code of a web page (inside a head tag) with text describing its content. This snippet is called the Meta Description tag.
The meta description of a page on a site or “description” is intended to convey to the user a brief and informative page content with competitive advantages that distinguish the site in the search results.
From the screenshot below, we can see that the first line with the name “Digital Growth World”, And the meta Description tag are represented by the part with the description “ Get a career boost with Digital Marketing training institute in Varanasi offered by Digital Growth World. Learn Digital Marketing Course from best faculty ”.
The term “snippet” (a fragment of the source text or program code in search engines) is used to denote meta-descriptions on the search results page. The description will also be displayed if the user has shared the page on social networks. Then it will be taken from the Open Graph tag, but if the developer has not filled it in, the Description meta tag is used.
Meta tag description allows you to use special characters for descriptions. The system automatically highlights the words and phrases that are most relevant to the search query in bold.
The number of characters is limited, but you will not find an exact description of the allowed maximum anywhere: it is determined by the size of the snippet in pixels (920 on PCs and 680 on smartphones). We will talk about how much text can fit there below.
If the developers have not filled in the meta description tag, Google can generate it on its own from the most relevant text posted on the page. In this case, the user will see several keywords in the meta description without a logical sequence.
How to write a meta description: meta name, description, content
In order for the meta description to appear in the search results under the URL, it must be added to the HTML code of the page between the tags in this form:
Most of the popular CMS – content management systems – allow you to enter text without manually editing the code. To add a meta description tag in WordPress, use the RankMath, All in One Seo, Yoast, Platinum SEO Pack plugins, or their equivalents.
Impact of Meta Description on SEO Optimization
At first sight, Google gives a definite answer to the question of whether the Meta Description tag influences the ranking of a page. Therefore, your efforts to take into account all the keywords and word forms in this meta-tag may seem meaningless, because they will not be taken into account by the system algorithms.
But not everything is so simple. If you correctly compose a meta description, without focusing on search engine mechanisms, you can increase your position in the search results by influencing the behavioral factors of users.
Simply put: a good meta-tag attracts the user’s attention and makes it clear that he will find a solution to the problem that prompted him to open a search engine on the old woman that appears in the SERP. Snippets – it’s like the shop window, in text-only design. The user, having read it, should say: “Yes! This is exactly what I’m looking for! ”
How will this affect rankings? The number of users who visited the page from an indicatorСTR Is the click-through rate. If it is high, the search engine makes a conclusion about the relevance of the content posted on the page and increases its ranking in the SERP.
As such, it is a good idea to write your meta description correctly, as the meta tag can have a major impact on SEO, albeit indirectly. Read on to learn how to make this impact as tangible as possible.
7 steps to the perfect meta description
Step 1: Identify the pages for which you want to write a meta description
Composing unique tags for each page is long, tedious, and unnecessary. For URLs that don’t bring in a lot of traffic, search engine-generated snippets are fine. Focus on the top-performing pages. Services will help determine them. Ahrefs, Similar Web, Alexa, and Serpstat…
Step 2: Build Your Description Tag With Your Title
Let the meta description and title become a coherent structure: write the main message in the Title tag, and expand it in the snippet. There is no point in piling up keywords in both tags. The ad must be readable and organic. An example of bad tagging:
Title: Buy an electric scooter Kiev. Low prices. Free shipping.
Description: Wide assortment ** Discounts ** Loyalty program ** Buy an electric scooter in Kiev cheap ** Quality guarantee.
As you can see from the screenshot, the title reflects the essence of the page, and the meta description provided allows you to understand in more detail what the user will find by clicking on this URL. The snippet looks organic and easy to read.
Step 3: Keep it short – a must for a meta description
And the point is not at all that no one will read multi-line effusions. The large text simply won’t fit into the snippet, and the meta description will appear truncated in search results.
The size of a snippet for a PC (920 pixels) – fits about 180-190 characters, for smartphones (680 pixels) – about 120. But you shouldn’t count every letter to invest in the limit. Better to make a meta description of 1-2 capacious sentences.
Step 4: use the impetus for action
A direct appeal to the user at the beginning of the meta-description on a subconscious level makes him pay more attention to the text.
Also Read: 10 Trending Content Marketing Trends For 2022
“Sign up to the newsletter and…”, “Try a month for free…”, “Indulge in fine cuisine…” Phrases like these set a friendlier tone for the snippet. The user will automatically take the compiled meta-description more seriously – after all, the author refers to him
Step 5: Write in the meta description what users want to read there
Before composing the Description tag, review the target audience. What questions are they looking for an answer to by driving a query into a search engine? What do they want to know? What problems to solve? What is important for them?
Step 6: use keywords
Yes, indeed, Google does not factor in the keywords of the tags when ranking. But I already mentioned that when displaying a snippet, the search engine highlights them in bold, and this automatically grabs the attention of users. And increased attention to the page leads to an increase in CTR, which has a beneficial effect on SEO.
Step 7: Include USP in the Description for the perfect meta description
Unique selling proposition. How the page differs from the competition. Let the user understand from the first words why he should visit your site and devote his time.
conclusions
In life, people meet on clothes, and web pages on the Internet – on the snippet, the Title, and the Description. What would an ideal meta description be?
We found out that for effective results in search engines, you need to correctly compose a meta description (preview, a small enticing text) with the rules for high-quality filling, the Title, and Description tags. The meta description with your keywords, albeit indirectly, affects SEO optimization. Because, by reading the description, the user understands the approximate content of the page and determines whether he needs to visit it.
In order to compose a meta description not just “what it was”, but to make it an effective tool for attracting customers, it is important:
- Briefly reveal the title, add your website name and brand name;
- Start your sentence with a motivation for action;
- Use keywords in your descriptions;
- Be sure to check compliance with the search intent;
- Create your own unique style;
- Come up with attractive and user-enticing descriptions;
- To form a USP, it is necessary to analyze competitors and TOP sites in the search results;
- Be sure to inform the user about the availability of a unique selling proposition.
