One of the crucial elements in SEO is the meta description. It not only helps readers understand the content but also helps search engines. Digital Funnel, an SEO agency in Ireland, will cover the value of meta descriptions for SEO and the best ways to write them.
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What Is A Meta Description?
A meta description is an HTML feature that offers a succinct explanation of the website’s content. A meta description is a crucial component of SEO since it is frequently utilised in search engine results pages (SERPs) to offer broad descriptions of a specific website.
In essence, the description tag is a brief paragraph that concisely and precisely summarises the content of the web page so that both people and the Googlebot can understand it.
In the same way that a meta title explains what the idea of the paragraph is, the meta description makes it clear what the site’s content is about.
Why Are Meta Descriptions Important?
As you might already know, the meta description tag was taken advantage of by people in the past trying to keyword stuff. Since then, Google has changed their algorithm. That means that the tag doesn’t affect the site’s rankings.
However, it has an impact on a website’s click-through rate and traffic since the description tag serves as a signal to the user to know and comprehend what the website’s content is. If the user is interested in the material, they will click on the URL.
A strong meta description gives you the chance to leave a lasting impression on website visitors. Because of this, SEO specialists advise using meta description tags for on-page optimization. It is best practice to write a meta description tag for each web page, but more importantly, you should make sure that they accurately describe the content.
In addition to being crucial for the Google index, meta descriptions are also crucial for creating the best possible user experience, much like the title tag. It provides the webmaster with a fantastic opportunity to promote the reputation and value of their website to the reader. Webmasters may lower the cost of outdoor advertising and improve the effect if they fully understand the psychology of their customers and precisely meet their needs.
What Are Good Characteristics Of A Meta Description?
Not all meta descriptions are equal. Some will be more appealing than others. They need to make sense and entice the user to click the URL to your website. But what are some pointers to follow when writing a meta description?
Ideal Length For Google
The meta description must be appealing enough to make searchers want to click while still making intelligent use of keywords. For the meta description to appear in its entirety on Google, it should be between 150 and 160 characters long.
Use Your Keyword In The Description
Similar to the meta title, including keywords in the meta description makes the website’s content more clickable for searchers. For example, if your keyword is “SEO Dublin“, ensure it is used in the meta description and leads to a page about SEO services in Dublin and not to an SEO business in Toronto or New York.
Keep your meta description unique
The user experience on Google will be worse if your meta description is a duplicate. The meta description for each page must be distinct, much like the meta title.
A meta description that is written must be pertinent to the article’s subject matter. Therefore, it will be more valued because it helps searchers.
Use Active Voice
Customers can be encouraged to visit your online store by your meta description. If so, you should consider your users and the reasons they come to your website. Make sure the descriptions are not monotonous or unclear. What can be found on your website must be clear to users.
Have a CTA
You should use inviting expressions like “Get it now,” “Explore it now,” “Learn more,” “Find out more,” etc.
Highlight Specifications
Customers always want to learn everything there is to know about the product they are interested in. If your product is geared toward techies, you should concentrate on the specifications.
You might list the manufacturer, the price, the SKU, or anything similar. As a result, you will find it simpler to persuade them to buy your products.
To Conclude
Every page should have a meta description, and optimising the meta description is a critical part of on-page SEO. The meta description is a connection to the consumers, even if it doesn’t help with Google’s keyword ranking algorithm.
Hopefully, the information on this checklist will help understand the meta description. After that, you can easily apply them to your page and have the strongest meta description possible.