How to create meta descriptions that Google Wants

Intro

Throughout the years, search engine optimization (SEO) has become more intelligent and accessible to users worldwide. Today, it offers various tools and techniques for businesses to improve their online visibility. They can now optimize their websites’ on-site and off-site elements to rank higher and reach potential clients.

One of these vital elements is meta descriptions. A meta description is a text that appears under the page title and URL or link in the search engine results pages (SERPs). It's one of the first things online users see when searching for information.

While meta descriptions aren't ranking factors, they are crucial in driving more traffic to a website and increasing its SEO ranking. It's why marketers include them when planning SEO campaigns for their websites.

Keep reading below to learn more about meta descriptions. Understand their importance to your SEO campaign and learn a few helpful tips on creating them properly.

Understanding meta descriptions

Once you launch your website, you want to optimize it for various ranking factors to reach your target audience. Today, marketers can use different forms of SEO to boost their website's SERP ranking. One of them is on-page SEO, where meta descriptions belong.

Generally, the meta description's primary purpose is to describe or summarize a web page. They offer a concise preview of what the target audience can expect to find once they click through. It's a teaser to online users, which makes it a significant contributor to driving more traffic to a site.

(Image source: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/snippet)

Furthermore, meta descriptions help search engine algorithms when crawling or reading your site. For instance, optimizing your meta descriptions helps Google understand and index your site. This makes it easier for the search engine to show your site to its target audience. This increases your chances of ranking higher in the SERPs.

As mentioned above, Google specifies that meta descriptions aren't ranking factors themselves. However, they significantly contribute to your site clicks. Therefore, your website generates traffic, impacting its search engine rankings. Many consider these short paragraphs vital components of an SEO campaign.

Tips for writing an excellent meta description

Quality content is one of the most significant ranking factors in SEO today. It's your gateway to communicating and converting your visitors into customers. From blog posts to HTML tags, content helps you connect with your target audience. That's why writing quality meta descriptions elevates your SEO campaign.

Suppose you don't employ meta descriptions for your site. Search engines will grab a snippet from the first paragraph of a web page's content. Without a meta description, search engines will display some content from the page with bolded keywords that match the ones the online users utilize. Of course, that's okay, especially if you do excellent keyword research and apply it to your site.

However, not employing meta descriptions will make you miss the chance to craft a more enticing message to your target audience.

You can use the following helpful practices for writing a meta description.

Keep it short

Meta descriptions must entice the target audience rather than educate them. Instead of writing lengthy texts, try to offer the main point of your content. In doing so, readers can immediately tell if your content provides the answers they want, urging them to click through.

In addition, the typical length of meta descriptions should only be 150 to 160 characters. If you write beyond that limit, search engines will cut your text. When that happens, you reduce the effectiveness of your meta description.

Fortunately, various online tools are available to help you measure your meta description's length before publishing. Even the social media site, Twitter, offers such a function.

Avoid overusing keywords

Optimizing your meta description with relevant keywords is an excellent way to boost its SEO impact. However, overusing them in the text will harm your ranking and meta description.

Imagine including the same target keyword within that maximum 160-character limit. It could make your meta description read awkwardly, making it hard to understand. When that happens, search engines and potential visitors will look elsewhere for valuable information.

Meanwhile, if you want to include more than one keyword in your meta description, you can. However, you must add these phrases seamlessly to make the text sound natural. Plus, it should feel less identical to the other.

Always use the active voice

The challenge with meta descriptions is capturing your target audience's attention in a few words. Ideally, when writing them, you must always be direct to capture their attention immediately. You can achieve that by employing an active voice in your writing.

Generally, in an active voice, the subject is performing the action. For example, "This person wrote the meta description." It feels more conversational and easy to understand. That's because people also talk in an active voice. Meanwhile, a passive voice centers around the action's target. For instance, "The meta description is being written by the person." It's much more complex and could read unnaturally.

Moreover, the passive voice can feel longer than the active voice. Using it will take up too much of the required character count. Plus, your target audience could have a hard time understanding your text. Whereas with an active voice, they can immediately grasp the point of your content.

You must treat your target audience as people in a hurry. They will skip your SERP listing if you give them lengthy or hard-to-understand sentences.

Never duplicate meta descriptions

Google doesn't impose penalties for duplicate content. However, it’s not exactly a good idea either.

While Google doesn't penalize sites with duplicate content, it filters them out in the SERPs. Identical content confuses the platform. When that happens, the search engine will have no choice but to select which of the similar pages to rank on the results page. If Google chooses the wrong page, it will negatively impact your SEO performance.

This case can also occur in meta descriptions. If search engines notice too many identical descriptions, they could flag your content for the same reason. That's why having unique and engaging meta descriptions is vital for websites.

Meanwhile, there are cases where marketers accidentally duplicate content from previous ones. Unfortunately, Google doesn't notify sites if they're penalized for such an issue. That means you wouldn't know if your ranking decreases for the same reason. The good news is that various tools are available to help you conduct a thorough website audit to identify these problems.

(Image source: /how-it-works/)

Cater to search intent

People conduct online searches to look for an answer to a question. Not only that, but they're also looking for quick answers. This is where a well-crafted meta description comes in.

Meta descriptions give readers a glimpse of the content. So you want to advertise that your content is relevant to their search query by offering tidbits of the information they seek. When you do, you can encourage them to visit your site.

At this point, it's best to understand your target audience. Know the specific pain points to learn the common questions they seek answers for. Furthermore, you can also take advantage of relevant keywords to gauge your target audience's typical search queries.

Ensure it matches the page's content

Click-baiting is a strategy where marketers intentionally mislead the target audience, tricking them into visiting a particular page. This concept is prominent in social media, where content with click-bait headlines is shared at least 50 times more frequently than non-click-bait ones. However, it's also present in SEO.

Click-baiting your target audience into visiting your site is a big SEO no-no. Search engines will detect if you're using meta descriptions to trick online users. They could even penalize your site if you do so.

Furthermore, using misleading descriptions increases your bounce rate. When that happens, you also reduce your target audience's trust in your site. So, when writing your meta description, ensure that it captures the exact point of your page.

Include a compelling call-to-action (CTA)

Think of your meta description as an advertisement for your web page. It's one of the first things your target audience will see in the SERPs. So your meta description must be excellent at selling your content.

To put your content forward, you must have an engaging call-to-action to invite your target audience further. Some of the best examples of CTAs for meta descriptions include "learn more," "find out here," and "check out." Marketers usually employ them at the end of the text to trigger a response from the target audience.

See below for an example of how CTA is used in meta descriptions.

(Image source: https://yoast.com/meta-descriptions/)

Get better ranking factors with meta descriptions

Meta descriptions are among the most vital elements of an SEO campaign. Writing them well helps search engines and the target audience understand the content better. Because of that, the site increases its click-through rate and ranking.

They may be short but significantly impact your site's SEO performance. Consider writing them as engaging and informative as possible to maximize all their potential benefits.