In this article, we are going to discuss the meta description.
Meta description tag
A meta description is an important attribute within meta tags that summarizes the page's content. It is the short paragraph of text placed in the HTML of a webpage. It is also known as a snippet that appears under the webpage's URL in the search results.
A meta description is not seen by visitors directly but is displayed by search engines like Google. This tag is specified in the head section of an HTML document which looks as:
<head>
<meta name="description" content=" Learn about meta description tag and its importance in SEO">
</head>
The element " name" helps search engine to identify which element of HTML code is specified as meta description and the content inside attribute " content" describes exact wording of meta-description.
Meta description tag is not important for search engine ranking but it will definitely help you increase CTR from SERPs. It can be viewed as a tool to advertise content to users by letting them know what exactly the page is about. Google has clearly stated that adding keywords to meta description won't affect your rankings but strong CTR will indirectly improve your rankings.
Sometime Google will pick paragraphs from the body section of your webpage instead of displaying your meta description. A meta description is likely to appear when people share your content across social channels and websites.
How to write a meta description?
There are some common mistakes that publishers do while writing a meta description. Let's look at them briefly.
•Inappropriate length
A meta description is a snippet and can be truncated so as to fit the device's width by search engines. Google doesn't place any limitation on its length but makes sure your description doesn't get truncated.
•Uneven meta description
Google says to include meta description on every single page of your website.
•Multiple descriptions on a single page
It is not good practice to include more than one tag on one page as it may confuse the search engines.
•Duplication of meta tag
Do not include the same meta description on different pages as Google says to differentiate the description for different pages.
Source: moz.com
Now, let's see how to write a good meta description.
1. Keep it up to 155-160 characters
Google doesn't place any length boundaries on meta description but is truncated by search engines to 155-160 characters. Your description should be short and catchy at the same time. If you observe meta description in SERPs, you will mostly see snippets of 120-156 characters. But Google will show up to 275 characters as of 2017. So, even if your meta description gets long, make sure to optimize it within 275 characters.
2.Keywords
Make sure to include keywords for your webpages in meta description because the search engine will highlight it to bold if it finds users query in your snippet.
3.Optimal format
Meta description has nothing to do with search engine rankings but is very useful for gaining users clicks. A meta description is webmaster's opportunity to advertise content to searchers. You should focus to provide value to your content in order to gain clicks.
4.Readable
Your meta description should be readable. Do not stuff keywords only which makes users assume that your result leads to a spammy website. It should completely be normal as human-written sentences.
5.Use rich snippets
You can add elements to the snippets by using schema markup and make it more appealing. You can include customers ratings, star ratings, calorie counts, product information.
Example of a good and bad meta description
Good meta description:
The below webpage contains a meta description with appropriate length and format. In addition, it communicates with users in a comprehensive way which makes them curious and motivates to click it.
Bad meta description:
Meta description like below can be irritating to users rather than providing value and information about the content.
Conclusion:
A good meta description can generate you huge CTRs and rank high on Google. You should always consider length, format and readability while creating a good meta description. Always try to keep it short and simple as possible.
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