Tips on Writing the Perfect Meta Description to Get More Clicks

July 11, 2017 | By Ilfusion Team

A meta description is a 160-character snippet that provides a summary of your web page’s content. More often than not, writing a meta description is overlooked or is taken for granted, when in fact it’s an essential aspect of on-page SEO.

Meta descriptions serve as your initial marketing copy for your page. They are there to entice users to click on your link to go to your page. Meta descriptions may not have a direct bearing on your search ranking, but it does help in generating click-throughs and driving organic traffic to your page.

Higher click-through rates (CTR) is a good indicator for Google’s search algorithm. This is why it’s important to write effective meta descriptions for the pages on your website. Here are tips for writing a good and effective meta description and what it takes to make it stand out from the competition:

1. Be mindful of the character limit

It all starts with the meta description length. Google has set a character limit to its snippets, so be sure to keep your meta description short and sweet. About 135 to 160 characters is recommended; otherwise, Google will automatically truncate your description, making it incomplete and less effective in providing a summary of your content.

2. Use actionable descriptions

Your meta description doubles as your sales copy; it invites users to click on your page. That said, use actionable descriptions and verb phrases, such as “Read more” and “Learn how.” Using an active voice also strengthens the impact of your meta description.

3. Include the target keyword

If a searched keyword is included in the meta description, your content will most likely show up in SERPs. It’s best practice to include targeted keywords in both your meta description and your content to increase your chances of being ranked in search engines.

4. Match the description with your content

If a meta description does not match the content of your web page, your bounce rate will increase, which is a negative ranking signal. The last thing you’d want is to be penalized by Google for writing a misleading meta description, so be sure your meta description matches your web content.

5. Make the description unique

Just as Google penalizes websites with duplicate content, so does having meta descriptions which are directly copied from other pages. Content is still king when it comes to writing meta descriptions and that’s why it’s important to make your description unique.

6. Highlight the content on your page

Users search for keywords to get answers, so writing a meta description that offers a solution is key. Be sure to highlight the key points of your content in your meta description. Structure your content to include the most important details as concise as possible.

Driving traffic to your site and increasing your click-through rate is just one aspect of SEO. If you want to know more about SEO and how Ilfusion can help you with your marketing efforts, give us a call at 888-420-5115, or send us an email cr******@******on.com.