A compelling meta description is the HTML element that summarizes a webpage’s content. This type of short description shows up on the search engine results page below the page title and the URL. The Meta descriptions can influence the click-through rate, which can influence whether a user decides to visit your page. This makes them a critical on-page SEO factor.
Why are Meta descriptions important for SEO?
A practical and compelling Meta description is like a good sales pitch. It quickly gives the readers your value proposition and makes them want to click on the link. Your main goal is to improve the CTR of your web pages with enticing and appealing Meta descriptions that make the users want to click. More clicks mean more visitors to your webpage. We all are no strangers to the fact that meta descriptions aren’t a direct SEO ranking factor. Still, they can indirectly influence rankings by encouraging a higher organic CTR for keywords.
One of the primary goals of SEO is to have a decent click-through rate and click-through rate on the page, which measures the total number of people who have clicked on a link against the total number of those who have seen the link and decided not to click on it. The page title will be the first thing that the organic traffic will know before they choose to enter one of your pages. Your main goal should be to understand what your web page represents.
Meta description tips.
Google suggests that a meta description should tell users what that web page is about. Based on the information in a meta description. The search engines rank the results on relevancy. You ought to think of meta descriptions as a pitch for your webpage. It would be best if you also communicated why the page would be helpful to the reader and made sure it accurately reflects what is on the page. If any reader does not find what the Meta descriptions promise, they will click away.
Following are some tips for writing compelling Meta descriptions-
- Be aware of Meta description length.
compelling Meta description can be technically any length. However, Google will cut them off after about 160 characters on a desktop and 120 characters on a mobile. If the meta description you write is cut off in the SERPs, the users may not get the full context of your webpage from your meta description. Thus, they may click on a different search result altogether.
A good compelling Meta descriptionis the HTML element that provides the users and search engines with a web page summary. According to studies, it is best to keep the meta description around 120 characters or fewer than that. This way, mobile and desktop users can read the whole thing.
2. Answer the question.
People are likely on Google searching for an answer to a question. You should try to get into their heads and think about what they are looking for that your content can help with. You should use your meta description to answer that question with a solution. For instance, let’s say your web page provides the readers with a free template for writing standard operating procedures.
Your compelling Meta description should be such that it should tell the readers that they can use your guided template to learn how to write on.
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3. Mention a solution to the challenge.
You should provide a solution to the challenge your readers are looking to solve. For instance, if you are writing a blog post with a list of CRM software, you should mention how many items are in the post and why that post will be valuable to the readers.
The compelling Meta description represents your content, and you should sell the content of your page in a way that will get the readers to click. This description also tells the readers how many options they will read about and what they need to know.
4. Keep the description concise.
The main body of your page is where you will educate your audience. Thus, the meta description need not be lengthy at all. You should provide a quick summary of the page or the point of the page that will stand out to the readers.
5. Do not overuse the keywords.
Your meta description should have keywords and read naturally to the reader. If you overuse the keywords to get a high rank, the readers might not understand your meta description, and they can end up getting confused. For example, let us assume your webpage is delivering a content offer for interview materials and the primary keywords are ‘interview preparation’ and ‘tips for interview’, you can write a meta description that reads along the similar lines. It should be relevant to the keywords you are using and you should also make sure that there is no keyword stuffing.
6. Be engaging and unique to the users.
You can also make your meta description fun and engaging to read. It should be eye-catching and it should stop the reader from scrolling through a SERP. This is helpful if your web page content is meant to be unique and engaging. You should be able to match the tone of your content in your meta.
7. Entice your readers with a call-to-action.
If you want to persuade the person who is reading your content to take action or create a sense of urgency, you can try taking a call-to-action at the end of your description.
8. Avoid duplicate Meta descriptions.
Google will penalize you for duplicate meta descriptions and you should ensure that you do not have too many identical descriptions. The search engines may flag some of your content as low-quality and it could impact your ranking.
Meta descriptions allow you to implement one or two keywords that you wish your products/services to rank for. If your website has various pages with the same Meta descriptions, it will not work in your favour.