Make The Most Of Meta Descriptions

Stuck on how to make the most of Meta Descriptions? Need some tips on how to make them the best they can be? This blog has all the information you could need when getting your meta description to perfection!

What is a Meta Description?

Meta descriptions are so important when boosting your SEO. They are the small snippet of text below the title and URL of a web page in the search engine results pages or otherwise known as SERPS. The purpose of a meta description is to summarise the content of what’s on that page in a punchy way that captures the audience’s attention. A meta description should always include a keyword and give you an overall understanding of the page without being too long. But, why is it so important and how can you make the most of Meta Descriptions?

Why are they important?

Meta descriptions are really important because they tell Google what that page is all about. Meaning when someone searches for the keyword that’s on that page, in theory, with lots of other great SEO elements, you’ll pop on that important first page of Google. So essentially meta descriptions should help to increase organic traffic and bring more views onto your website.

If you don’t add a meta description when finalising your SEO, Google will display the first line of whatever text is on that page. Not only is that not ideal but, if you don’t have a keyword in that first line it will just go against you and not help with the overall discovery of your page. Obviously, SEO and getting people to visit your page is the main point of a meta description but, not having one can affect the overall appearance.

It looks much better to have a snappy informative piece of text when it pops up on Google. It looks more professional and gives people more of a summary of the page’s information, meaning you’re more likely to get people to then hop onto that page. So definitely create a good snappy attention-grabbing meta description.

How to write a good Meta Description!

Now you know what they are and are starting to find ways to make the most Of Meta Descriptions, so it’s important to know how to write them. When writing a meta description you want to start by making it sound quite intriguing and giving the person reading it an incentive. Use a very active voice that will be appealing to the reader and give them more of a push to click on your page.

Always include your main keyword phrase in the meta description, your company name and try to add a CTA at the end like “If you’re looking for advice on meta descriptions call XYZ today” Try to keep it short and snappy though! You don’t want it to be too long as not all of it will show up. You want it short and punchy. Once you’ve added in the essentials like the keyword phrase, your company name and a CTA, whilst keeping it punchy, try and make sure it’s also unique! And do this all in about 155 characters!!

Show off your great writing skills and make the meta description unique to your brand, you want people to be able to pick you out in a huge crowd of other meta descriptions so, make it unique to your style and brand.

Good Meta Description Examples

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The Top Tips:

1. Answer the question – if your page is titled ‘how to’ then try and somewhat answer the question whilst still intriguing the reader.
2. Short and sweet – like mentioned above, keep it snappy. Get the keyword in there and the information you want to add in but don’t make it lengthy.
3. Don’t overuse keywords – You want to use them enough to get noticed but not so much that it’s spammy. You also want it to be reader-friendly. You want the SEO in there but also want it to be a good read.
4. Call to action – As we said above, try and get a nice CTA in there
5. Be Yourself! – The audience wants to enjoy what they are reading so, be yourself and be unique. That way you will stand out from the crowd.
6. Make The Most Of Meta Descriptions – As simple as that may seem, with all the facts you’ve read, really make the most of them. They will be your best friend when getting the SEO you need for your page.

Just one more thing…

Annoyingly and sometimes this does happen, no matter how hard you work on your meta descriptions, Google thinks, in it’s infinite wisdom, that they think a sentence is better than your meta description so will post that instead. So try and do everything you can to make it about the relevant page you are adding it to!

Get in Contact!

Hopefully, we have answered all your questions and helped you Make The Most Of Meta Descriptions. If you still feel like you need further advice or help with all things SEO for your website, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us!