A small but mighty paragraph, a meta description should be included on every page of your website. This simple element can make all the difference when attracting lots of traffic to your site. In this article, I will be explaining what a meta description is, why it’s important and how to write a quality one to boost your click-through rate.
What is a Meta Description?
A meta description is just one meta element that you can find on a web page. Meta elements are tags used in HTML and XHTML documents to provide structured data about a web page. They are part of a web page’s head section and tell browsers how to display certain information. They are also read by search engines to be used on their search results page (SERPs) and contribute to your ranking on a site. A meta description is a short paragraph that explains what a web page is about. Meta descriptions are not visible on the page itself but are shown on search engine results pages. The URL of the page is shown, followed by the SEO title and then the meta description. This is one of the meta descriptions shown for my site on SERPs
Why is a Meta Description Important?
A meta description has two main purposes, improving reach and click-throughs to your website. It’s a small but vital part of your on-page SEO work. The reason why a meta description is so important is:
- It explains to search engines what your web page is about and helps determine whether it’s the right page to show to searchers. When the meta description is written with clarity and information in mind, search engines will show it to the right people and at the right time. This will grow your audience on search engines.
- If the meta description is written well and entices audiences you will gain more clicks to the website. A meta description is only seen on a search engine results page. It’s an advert for your site so you need to convey that your site is the right one for a customer within a second. The better the description the more likely users will click to view your site.
How to Write a Meta Description
Now we have a clearer understanding of what a meta description is, we get to the fun part of writing one. While everyone will have their own style, there are certain limitations that all SEOs should abide by.
The Dos of a Description
To keep your description to the point and as enticing as possible, follow these rules:
- Keep the description between 155-160 characters including spaces. Search engines limit the number of characters shown for a description so the shorter the better to not get cut off at the end.
- Explain briefly what the page is about, tell the user what they’ll expect to see when they click the link on a SERP
- Make the description unique on your site. No two meta descriptions should be the same.
- Include the keyword or phrase that you are targeting for the page. This could be the product, service or an FAQ. By including this, you’ll help search engines know whether it is relevant to users searches.
- Make the writing engaging and include a call to action to encourage users to click. Shop now, learn more, find out how… anything to inspire further action.
What not to write
There are also a few things to avoid when writing meta descriptions:
- Too short a description and you will not adequately describe what the page is about. Too long and the end of your description will be cut off by most search engines.
- Avoid quotation marks, hyphens and other punctuation as it makes it harder for users to read. Clear, plain language works best for descriptions.
- Don’t just spam your description with keywords and phrases, it won’t add value and will just look messy. Include keywords when they are relevant and add value and clarity to the description.
Hire an On-Page SEO Specialist
I hope you’ve found these guidelines helpful and now know how to write a meta description effectively. But if you think you need a little bit more guidance, then I am here to help. I’m an on-page SEO specialist that can help you plan and implement all aspects of on-page optimisation. Including meta descriptions, SEO titles, URL best practices, copywriting and much more. Get in touch with me today, and let’s see how we can grow your business together.