Did you know, that if you don’t use Meta Descriptions correctly, people won’t click on your website?
Find out how to change that, and write the best Meta Description to help boost your website rankings.
Gary Evans | Quillations Affordable Website Design
Email | info@quillationswebsitedesign.co.uk
What You Will Learn In This Post...
What a Meta Description is:
How it will help your website:
The Best Practices to write one:
Are you finding that your website isn’t gaining the click-through rate your were expecting?
Is your content keyword rich and compelling to your readers, yet never being found?
Then it is time to alter your Meta Description!
Great descriptions should draw your readers in, and make them want to continue to your website.
It should contain keywords which will help boost your SEO rakings, as well as provide a quick insight into what the reader should expect.
Below, I shall explain how to improve your Meta Description efforts, and help grow your website.
What Are Meta Descriptions?
Meta descriptions are a summary of a web page’s content.
It is a 160-character snippet, which is displayed in a Search Engines results to let visitors understand about a certain site.
If compelling enough, the user will click through to the website.
They are one of the most important aspects of a website, as it determines where you will rank in search results.
Why Are Meta Descriptions Important?
Meta descriptions are important, as they are used by Search Engine Algorithms to help determine your websites ranking.
If used correctly, you can help boost your website and rank above your competitors.
It could be the difference between Page 4 and Page 1!
They help with:
- An increased click-though rate to help build your conversions and sales
- Improving your website ranking on the Search Engines
- Allowing your customers to see a quick snippet of what they should expect from your site, so they know they are in the right place.
Did you know that websites with a Meta Description have an average of 5.8% more clicks?
So How Will Meta Descriptions Help My Website?
Meta Description Examples
Let’s say you are searching Google for a dog trainer near you.
You will see a list of sites, each with a Meta Description giving their “elevator pitch” to you.
Their pitches are:
- You might be surprised to hear that dog training can be done remotely. Many customers prefer online dog training …
- Friendly, professional training for you and your dog. Classes and 1:1 home training
Now these are snippets of actual websites.
Both offer dog training near you.
But which website would you want to click on?
The answer (if you didn’t know!), is #2.
It clearly tells you what they do, and that you can go to classes or they can come to you.
The first Meta Description does not really align to what you are asking for.
Site number 2 will end up with more visitors to their site, as they have written a compelling Meta Tag for their site.
Meta Descriptions when written correctly, will help to grow your website, as they stand out more to what your clients look for.
They will draw more visitors in, and help you move above your competition.
Social Media And Meta Descriptions
When you share your website link on Social Media platforms, it also displays your Meta Description.
If you haven’t written one, then a search engine may create one for you.
The issue with this, is that it may not appear as accurate as you may wish it too.
This will mean visitors will not be compelled to click on your link, potentially loosing you a client.
This is why it is crucial to write your own description in the correct way.
Tips For Writing Your Meta Description Tag
Help drive clicks and improve your search rankings by following these tips:
1) Include a Call To Action within your description
By using a Call To Action (CTA) within your Meta Description, it will help draw your customers in.
Using terms like “Shop Now”, or “Sign Up Today” within your description, will help your readers understand what is expected.
It will give them an incentive to click through and engage with your website.
2) Add a Value to your meta description
To help get you more visitors to your website, use terms like “Learn”, “Watch” or “See How”.
It tells searchers that your website will offer them a value, and make them click through.
Let’s say you bake cakes, and your site contains a video about different steps to take.
Which meta description example would you be more drawn to:
- Welcome to our website. We bakes cakes and want to help you.
OR - Welcome to our website. Watch our video on how we can help you.
Both have the same meaning, yet #2 would get more visitors.
Why?
Because it informs the reader that not only are they able to help you, but it lets them know there is a video.
People are more driven to descriptions where they know how you help.
3) Include keywords
We all know search engines require keywords to help them understand what your website is about.
This is why they should always be included in your meta descriptions if you want your site to rank.
Meta description keywords will help the engines and users understand quickly what your website is all about.
4) Keep it short
Meta descriptions are limited to 150 characters being shown within the search engines.
By keeping yours below this number, you are certain that your entire description will be displayed.
However, this does not mean you cannot go above this number.
It will mean your description will be cut off with … at the end, but this may compel some people to click through.
Try and get all the information you need within the first 150 characters, and then experiment!
5) Do not duplicate your meta descriptions
Because your meta descriptions are vital to search engine rankings, they need to be unique.
If every page has the same description written down, users and search engines will struggle to understand your content.
It will have a negative effect on your rankings, as it will be difficult for crawlers (when search engines crawl your website for content), to understand different pages.
You will face penalties because they will not be able to determine what page is the original.
Conclusion
By creating unique, compelling and keyword rich meta descriptions, you will help boost ranking and click rate results in search engines.
Having a short but effective description will make your visitors want to click through to find out what you have to offer.
If you are still unsure if what you have written is good enough, or simple want more advice, then please contact Quillations.
We will gladly give you some free advice.
Thank you for reading!
Want To Increase Your Website Traffic?
About Gary Evans
Coming from a customer service background, and managing a large magazine account in London, Gary knows how to treat customers right.
Designing website is a huge passion for Gary, and he is always checking his customers websites to ensure they are all working correctly.
Gary always goes out of his way to help his customers, and always goes above and beyond.
Our Blog
Are you starting a new online business and need some advice?
Many of us jump straight in without researching things first.
This is where Quillations can help!
Come and read out blog posts, and find relevant information on all aspects of online business.
How To Guides are a great way of making sure things are completed correctly, to help beat your competitors.
Are you a new business, or are you already established online?
Either way, Quillations How To Guides will give you step by step instructions about your online business.
Don’t get left behind by your competition.
Read our guides today, and help your business flourish.
Are you in need of a Website Designer?
Hi, my name is Gary Evans and I love nothing more than making websites look and function as they should.
Will you be my next client?
