A meta description is an HTML element that summarises and describes the contents of your page for users and search engines also known as a meta description attribute or tag. The meta description is vital for on-page SEO, even though metadata is less crucial for SEO rankings than it once was.
This article will guide you to know more about:
What “meta description” means, how to view your site’s meta description, and how it impacts visitors.
Why meta descriptions are essential to you and your SEO rankings.
How to extract real search value from your own meta descriptions.
What is a Meta Description
Let’s begin with the fundamentals. What does a page’s meta description tag even mean? A meta description is a brief paragraph of text that provides a quick overview of the content that might be found on a webpage. Both users and search engines use them to assess a website’s quality and the value each page provides. They are displayed beneath all search results.
When they need something, people use Google to search. When a user searches on Google, they are looking for a specific good, service, or response to a query. Users can determine whether a web page will meet their needs by reading the page’s meta description. Therefore, meta descriptions undoubtedly impact user experience (UX), indirectly affecting search engine results, even if they aren’t strictly a defined ranking element in Google.
Read More: On-Page SEO Ranking Factors
How Meta Description Works
Technically speaking, a meta description is a short passage of text that follows the blue link in a search engine result. The information on the website that is referenced above is summarised in this page description. Additionally, even though it is not a recognised ranking factor by Google, it can be changed to entice visitors to go through the website.
A meta description is an extra text that displays in SERPs. It clarifies for readers what purpose the link serves. Searchers can use the meta description to assess whether or not your content is what they are looking for. That finally aids in determining whether they will click or not.
For instance, this meta description’s maximum length has increased and is currently at around 300 characters. It implies that it intends to provide readers with additional information about what each result will provide. Therefore, your meta description should include the long-tail keyword for which you are aiming to rank in addition to being reader-friendly (compelling and relevant).
Hong long should a meta description
Although the length of a meta description is entirely up to the author, it’s vital to remember that Google will only display 155 to 160 characters. Google will truncate any sentences that are too long. You want to attract clicks, provide value, and accurately describe your content in your meta description. You’ll need to be imaginative in your language while still being exact for this. The best advice for how long a meta description length should be is to keep it between 150 and 160 characters.
However, only rely on these suggested lengths to remain constant as Google frequently adjusts the permitted lengths for meta descriptions without warning. Too short or too-long meta descriptions can make them less effective or valuable for SEO. Although there isn’t a set minimum for meta descriptions, you want them to be long enough to give readers enough details.
Your chance to let information seekers know that you offer the solutions they need and want is through a meta description. It may be challenging to convey what you offer and how you may best assist the reader if your meta description is too brief or has too few characters.
Google might only deem a meta description sufficiently brief to sufficiently address a query and be replaced by one generated automatically. However, more is only better if it is succinct and immediately relates to the information on the other end of the link.
However, if your meta description is too long and goes above 160 characters, you may anticipate that it will be trimmed in any way the search engine deems appropriate. This could be irrelevant or weaken the impact of your description, which could steer readers elsewhere depending on the content of your meta description.
You are losing the chance to give readers enough of the appropriate information in either case, and you risk having a lower click-through rate.
Why do meta descriptions important for SEO
Meta description tags may significantly impact your search engine optimization efforts. The central value of the meta description is:
Your meta description acts as “organic ad text.”
This implies that Google and other search engines will frequently display the meta description as a summary of the page when your ad ranks for a keyword.
This makes the meta description as crucial as the ad text.
A strong meta description can increase your organic search results click-through rate. This means that more searchers who view your page in the results will click through and visit your website. Even if your rating doesn’t change, you will receive extra visitors!
How can I write a better meta description
This is the list of components you need to include in the good meta descriptions that we came up with based on the research we have done on the subject and our personal experiences:
1. Limit the text to 155 characters.
There isn’t such a thing as the ideal length; it all depends on the point you’re trying to make. Keep it brief and crisp while giving the message room to breathe. However, if you look through Google’s search results, you’ll mainly find snippets between 120 and 156 characters long.
Unfortunately, we have no complete control over what Google shows as search results. It may display the meta description or select only a few phrases from your content. In either case, it’s best to keep it brief. By doing this, your meta description won’t be shortened if Google decides to display it.
2. Make it actionable by using active voice
You must consider your user and their (potential) incentive to visit your page if you view the meta description as an invitation to your page. Make sure your description isn’t tedious, challenging, or overly mysterious. People should be aware of what to expect from your page.
3. Add an action call.
“Hello, do you want this new product that we have? Discover more! This relates to what we discussed regarding the active voice, but we wanted to reiterate it. The sales text is the meta description. However, the “product” you are attempting to sell in this instance is the linked website. We also use invitations like “Learn more,” “Get it now,” and “Try it free.”
4. Employ your main keyword
Google will be more likely to use it and promote it in the search results if the search keyword matches a section of the meta description. This will further enhance the appeal of the connection to your website. Google will occasionally highlight synonyms.
5. Make sure it corresponds to the page’s content.
This is a crucial one. If you use meta descriptions to deceive users into clicking on your result, Google will find out. If you do it, they might even punish you for it. Inaccurate descriptions, however, will also raise your bounce rate. It will also undermine public confidence in your business. That alone makes it a horrible idea. Because of this, you need the meta description to correspond to the page’s content.
6. Make it unique
The user experience in Google will suffer if your meta description is the same as those for other pages. All your pages will look the same even though their titles may differ because they all share the same descriptions. You’d be better off keeping it blank than producing duplicate meta descriptions. Google will choose a snippet from the page that contains the query’s keyword. The ideal strategy is to create a unique meta description for each page you wish to rank with.
Some characteristics of a good meta description
Add a focused, researched keyword.
Most search engines will bold the keyword in the description when they match search queries if a meta description contains the term the user searched for. Long tail keywords or various target terms will encourage users to convert.
Title Tag and On-Page Content Must Match
A meta description must convey the same message as the on-page text and title tag. The title tag and other on-page content should contain the exact target keywords to help users and search engines understand your relevance for a specific search query.
Keep your meta descriptions unique.
Similar to title tags, each page’s meta description must be distinct. As shown below, a search engine will use other information or website parts to fill the area if it determines that the meta description is not pertinent enough for the matching search query. Ultimately, this degrades user experience because the message might need to be more compelling to lead to a conversion.
Why is optimizing your meta description is important
Meta descriptions assist you in organic search, even if they are not a ranking indication. You know why they are essential, so let’s examine the top 4 reasons to optimise meta descriptions in 2023 in more detail.
Website Advertising
A content element that can function as advertising prose is the description tag. It directs a searcher’s attention from the search engine results page to your website. A prominent and essential component of search marketing is the meta description. We strongly advise you to produce excellent content for your descriptions. The click-through rate for a particular webpage can be increased by employing at least one target keyword based on the user’s search intent. You must be aware that the keywords in the description that match the entered search phrase will be highlighted in bold on Google and other search engines. The online user can observe that your webpage is pertinent to and fulfils their search criteria. The user will notice your website because of this bold lettering. Meta description serves as a miniature website’s advertising tool as a result.
Increasing the Click-Through Rate
Consider your meta descriptions as advertisements while developing your SEO strategy. Users will read this little text excerpt to learn why they should visit your website instead of the other nine. Your SEO rankings will increase if your SEO description attracts more attention and clicks.
As we’ve already established, the user experience still matters even though Google does not consider meta descriptions a ranking factor. Treat your meta description as a crucial component of your content strategy, add a goal keyword, and give potential readers valuable details about your website.
Enhance the user experience
Your on-page SEO can be impacted, and user behaviour can be affected by the URL structure, title, and—most importantly—description. Both Google and visitors are interested in what’s on your website. Because user experience affects user behaviour, meta descriptions are essential for SEO and can significantly improve the user experience even when your target audience is off-site.
Your meta description should say so if you’re educating, instructing, or demonstrating your abilities. The meta description is the first impression, and meta descriptions are at the forefront of that endeavour for organic search. When picking an inevitable search result, users decide which results are relevant. Google considers user experience to be the best metric when determining helpful material, and the meta description is the one that offers the first solutions. We strongly advise you to start creating engaging meta descriptions for your website so that users will click on them. The content of your website should match the meta description. You will give a bad user experience otherwise.
Increase Search Rankings
75% of people don’t scroll past the first page of SERPs. This is why having a high search engine ranking is crucial. It would be best if you concentrated on each piece of information on your website in 2023. Every year, Google releases three significant improvements impacting search and ranking algorithms. As a result, if your website contains duplicate and low-quality content, there is a reasonable risk that the upgrade will affect it and damage your search ranks.
Our recommendation is to improve search rankings naturally through pertinent content. Google prioritises pages with high-quality content highlighting E.A.T. (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). By incorporating this idea into your content writing practises, you will demonstrate to Google that you are an expert in the subject matter. Keyword stuffing is no longer used. From an SEO standpoint, your focus should be on producing authoritative content targeted at evergreen keywords if you wanted to have a high website ranking in 2023. Write for readers, not Google bots.
Let’s work Together
Every page has a meta description, and optimising the meta description is critical to on-page SEO. The meta description is a link to the consumers even if it doesn’t help with Google’s keyword ranking algorithm. The information on this checklist will help you understand the meta description. After that, you can easily apply them to your article and have the finest meta description possible
iMarketing’s SEO Malaysia services are a fantastic option for your online business. You will rank on the first page with our exciting SEO services which included short and crisp meta descriptions for your webpage. It is also helpful to your business to recognise you and gain conversion, particularly if you need to add meta keywords and meta descriptions for your goods. Contact us now and book a free consultation with our SEO experts today.