As a business owner with a handle on SEO, you’ve probably already optimized the content and images on your site. However, your work is not done there. It would be best to optimize your meta descriptions because they influence the results a user sees in search engines.
Meta descriptions are essential for SEO and are used to describe your content in search engine results. They should be concise, relevant, and engaging—you must ensure yours stick out. In fact, one of the best ways to get visitors from search engine results to your website is through good meta descriptions.
This guide will show you how to create compelling meta descriptions for your site, optimize it for SEO, and ensure the meta description gets displayed in search engine results.
What is an SEO Meta Description?
A meta description is some HTML code on the homepage, ideally around 155 to 160 characters long. It acts as a summary of your content. It’s the text that appears below your page title.
Meta descriptions appear in search results when the meta description contains the keywords you’re searching for. Unlike your page title, meta descriptions are not typically a ranking factor, but they provide descriptive information and tempt users to click on them. They also offer an excellent marketing toolkit for wording your product as part of your content marketing strategy.
Businesses increasingly use meta descriptions for SEO as they appear to visitors before they click. This should be a concise, accurate, and 100-words or longer text. It should contain the keywords that are being targeted and may also include a call to action.
Meta descriptions can increase your website visibility when you type in specific keywords. They also make your company stand out on the search engine results pages (SERPs) when somebody searches for a term like “fitness apps.” The words at the top of a web page are called the title tag. It would be the title if someone were to write about it. Underneath it is a short description of 155 characters or less. This is for the meta description.
What Makes a Great Meta Description?
The goal of a meta description is to generate a click-through from a Google search. Meta descriptions are utilized to accomplish this.
Google states meta descriptions do not affect rankings. However, there is a likely indirect benefit in that Google uses click-through rates to determine if you are a satisfying result for the search somebody enters.
When you appear higher in the SERPs for many people, Google sees this as you being a more relevant result. So if your position is better and more people click on your site, Google will move you up the SERP. Many people think that meta descriptions don’t matter if they’re not interested in ranking on search engines. That’s not the case, or else this guide wouldn’t exist. If a website doesn’t rank on search engines, its meta description won’t appear.
Unfortunately, Google may not display the meta description you’ve carefully written. But, as there’s the potential that it will, it is always worth exploring.
6 Simple Guidelines for Creating a Stand-out SEO Meta Description
To put these tips into practice, all you need to do is make sure your meta description does the following: it’s keyword rich and has a benefit for users that align with your prospects.
Consider the following:
Make Sure Your SEO Meta Description Speaks to Your Target Audience
The goal of every title is to entice someone to click on it. Consider what might compel readers and use that information to develop a title. Consider what you offer your consumers, and then ask yourself why they should buy from you.
How do you promote your product? The answer is simple: with quality content. However, your meta descriptions must be convincing and informative to get someone to choose you over your competitor.
An attractive and compelling meta description on a site page or other content is critical. When you cannot do that, the competition will be able to rank higher during the search. You must focus on what makes your company, product, or service different.
Create a Unique Meta Description
Let your business’s potential customers know how you can help them in your meta description. Let them know that you’re different from other similar businesses, and let them know more about this difference. Be clear about what you offer and how your features will benefit the reader, making it easier for users to find what they want on your website. When coming up with a good meta description, consider brevity and clarity.
The goal of your meta description is to persuade people who are browsing the web to click on your site. Linking it back to features or benefits they may not have even known existed may be productive. It is an excellent opportunity to show off your brand and promote it. Although there are character limit constraints, you can still use meta descriptions as opportunities for self-promotion by simply including a line or two in your comment about how hard you work or what an important person you are.
Assess your positive reviews and frequently asked questions to determine what people search for when they land on your product or service. Revise your description according to your feedback and ensure it reflects what you are selling. Your first impression is essential when you are trying to make a sale. The meta description will allow you to compete for higher rankings on Google. Ensure all pages have a good description, or your credibility will suffer.
Include Primary Keywords in the Beginning of Your Meta Description
It is important to include primary keywords at the beginning of your meta description because search engines typically use this information as a ranking factor. By emphasizing your primary keywords at the beginning of your meta description, you are helping to ensure that search engine algorithms take notice and index your website accordingly. Additionally, this is also beneficial for users searching for content related to those keywords, as they can quickly identify if your content is relevant to their query.
It’s crucial to find a way to include your target keyword in your content for search engines to rank your page. Make sure to write something readable. You can have keywords in a meta description, but don’t make it so spammy that it looks like you’re stuffing them in for the sake of doing so.
Add in a Brief Call to Action (CTA)
Did you know that we have something new? You should find out more! Think of the meta description as a sales pitch to a potential customer visiting your site and consuming your content. Use enticing phrases like:
1. Read now to find out more!
2. Sign up now and get the best deals!
3. Get started today and join the club!
4. Shop now for exclusive savings!
5. Subscribe now and get the latest updates!
6. Download now to get instant access!
7. Claim your offer before it’s too late!
8. Try it for free today!
Keep Your Meta Description Relevant
Many people use the meta description on their page as bait to convince potential customers to click through. However, you risk getting penalized by Google and fewer people seeing your site. But descriptions are crucial for determining your company’s credibility. If you are too ‘salesy’ and inaccurate, it can discourage readers from visiting your website and cause them to leave in just a few seconds.
To keep meta descriptions relevant, staying updated with the latest trends and continually reviewing and updating your descriptions as needed is important. Additionally, it’s important to tailor each description to the specific page, using keywords that accurately describe the content on the page, and keeping it concise and interesting.
Always Hit the Character Count
The character count of a meta description is incredibly important as it dictates how much information will be visible on search engine results pages (SERPs). Meta descriptions should be concise and accurately reflect the content of the page they are associated with. Character counts are typically limited to around 150-160 characters, so it is important that words are carefully chosen to maximize the potential impact of each SERP listing.
Stay within that limit while writing your meta description. It’s a good idea to place key phrases at the start of your description and include a quick introduction about your business or the page content.
The Importance of Creating an Effective Meta Description
The meta description is an integral part of a web page’s content. The short yet powerful snippet appears on a search engine result page below the page’s title.
Webmasters often overlook meta descriptions for a page. However, they can affect how high your content ranks in SERPs. Write your meta descriptions for humans, not search engine bots. The description should use specific keywords and pertain to the page someone is about to see. This will help to rank your site higher in the SERPs.
Your meta description is the first thing potential customers see on search engine result pages. It’s important to create a compelling, SEO-friendly meta description that will entice them to click through and explore your site.
If you find it challenging to keep up with these changing SEO trends or don’t have the time and want to ensure your website is SEO-friendly, consider hiring a content marketing agency for SEO strategy.
A content marketing agency can be a great idea for SEO because the content is an integral part of any successful SEO strategy. A content marketing agency can help create high-quality content optimized for keywords and phrases related to your services or products, helping your website rank higher in searches.
Connect With okwrite for Your SEO Strategy
SEO strategy is important in content strategy because it allows businesses to optimize their websites for search engine rankings and attract more visitors from organic search results. With a well-defined SEO strategy, businesses can identify keywords for their industry or target audience and add them to the web page titles, meta descriptions, headings, body text, and URL to structure their pages for Google’s index. Properly utilizing SEO best practices help business owners reach potential customers by reaching page 1 of the SERPs, connecting with interested business owners and increasing visibility across multiple search engines.
The okwrite content marketing team always considers SEO best practices in content creation, but we also provide SEO strategy as a service. With this service, we can:
- Help you identify your market research and competitors
- Identify gaps in the keyword research
- Target low handing fruit for keyword research
- Promote long-tail keywords
- Optimize existing blogs based on an SEO content strategy
- Perform an SEO content audit to assess your existing pages
- Optimize pages for technical SEO recommendations
It’s hard work to market your company. Why try and do it all yourself? With our SEO services, you can focus on the other aspects of your business that are easier to manage and, if done correctly, will make your marketing more effective than ever.
Want to find out how okwrite can craft your meta descriptions to increase website traffic?
Connect with us to learn more!
