Writing Good Meta Descriptions for SEO
Writing good meta descriptions for SEO is perhaps one of the best ways to attract searchers to visit your website. If you don’t put your best effort into crafting it, you could be missing out on good website traffic that can bring in lots of new leads and customers.
Meta description defined
The meta description is a short paragraph that describes the content of a web page. It is placed in the HTML area and appears under your page’s URL in the SERP. It is also known as a snippet. Meta descriptions appear when people share your blog or articles on social media and other websites.
You can place the meta description in the <head> area of your site’s HTML:
<head>
<meta name=”description” content= ”Here is a meta description of my webpage.”>
</head>
If you are using a CMS, you can always update your snippet as needed. If you are using SEO plugins, go to the meta description area and you can have a sneak peek of how your snippets will look in the SERP.
Meta descriptions are important because they can persuade searchers to click through on your content from search results. The more descriptive and relevant your description, the higher the chances that someone will click through.
To learn tips on writing good meta descriptions for SEO, read below:
- Keep your most important keywords at the start of your meta description. Search engines usually highlight it in bold where they find the searchers query on your snippet.
- Make your copy coherent and easy to understand. Your description should be compelling and relevant in order to attract clicks. Avoid keyword stuffing, as people can assume it is a spammy website.
- Meta descriptions should be between 135-160 characters long. If they are longer, search engines will cut them off, so you should place your most important keywords at the beginning.
- Meta descriptions should be different for each web page. Avoid replicating them on your website because Google penalizes mass duplication.
- Consider using schema markup so you can enhance your meta descriptions: customer ratings, product information, etc.
- Use active voice. Start your snippets with powerful action verbs like ‘Discover’, ‘Learn’ or ‘Receive’ and tell readers exactly what they’ll get when they click.
- Provide a solution or benefit. Write a short sentence as a sneak peek to the content or inform the searcher the reason for reading your post. Consider this as an opportunity to sell them what you have to offer – informative, valuable content.