How To Write The Best Meta Description
Meta descriptions are a summary of information that is contained on a page which is often found displayed below search results links of the various search engines. According to SEO Warrington, apart from offering a description of the content, the end goal of meta descriptions is to convince the various searchers to click on their website and thus strategically increase traffic. The resultant increased clicks have SEO (Search Engine Optimization) benefits for the website, which will see it rank highly for their particular keywords. Ranking highly improves visibility and clicks, which can turn into purchases for business websites considering research has proven most people click on the top search results and very few scrolls to the bottom for the other results there. The various techniques which you need to employ to come up with effective meta descriptions include;
Use Call To Actions
The goal is to find more clicks, and SEO Warrington is confident that action-oriented language alongside a specific detailed description of what the searchers will find if they click will do the trick.
Provide a Solution
Make sure to explicitly inform the searching individual precisely what to expect when clicking on your links. It is annoying for the searchers to have to go back because you did not find what they were looking for as well as reduce the number of bounce rates for your website. The description should be in relatively short sentences and convince the web user why they should click on it, and they need to be confident that on clicking they will be redirected to relevant, informative and high-quality content.
Don’t Exceed 155 Characters
Google doesn’t necessarily measure meta descriptions by the number of characters but uses pixels instead. SEO Warrington believes this 155 characters rule is merely a guiding rule however after a certain width Google will cut off the description and is therefore good to be on the safe side and allow all of it to be visible alongside the search results.
Don’t Deceive People
If readers are deceived into clicking on content that is not beneficial to them, high bounce rates will be expected for your site. Such unethical behaviour is likely to hurt the reputation and credibility of the website, which will end up doing more bad than good.
The meta descriptions should be relevant and straight to the point. Unnecessary words should be avoided, and the description should connect to the reader, showing exactly them what the page is going to offer. This will boost confidence among the searchers and possibly the number of clicks which you will get from them.
Common Mistakes When Writing Descriptions
- Keyword Stuffing
There are individuals who have been seen to try and boost their SEO standings by throwing a bunch of keyword on their meta descriptions. SEO Warrington advises against such behaviors because for starters meta descriptions have no effect on SEO, and this will only make your website to lose credibility and potential customers who would have otherwise clicked if the description was simple and straight to the point.
- Not Including Keywords
On the search results, keywords present on the meta description will be bolded. This will increase the possibility of your link being clicked on than those which have nothing. You should, therefore, strategically include just the right amount of keywords on the texts while avoiding keyword stuffing at the same time.