We all know what meta descriptions exactly are, right? But what we don’t know is, how to create compelling meta descriptions that do not only attract search engines but also your audience.
A meta description is a snippet of information that appears in search engine results. Now what most people do is, include as many details as possible about the page. Though it’s a good practice, what if your description is too long and stuffed with keywords with no useful details?
Compared to that, your competitor has used primary keywords systematically in the description along with a proper call to action. What do you think which description would get more clicks? Of course, the one with keywords, important details, and a call to action.
Well, these are not the only considerable elements when it comes to writing a meta description for your website page. The 160 characters’ description is extremely critical as it’s the first thing your audience sees when they interact with your website on search engines.
So, what are those lucky tips that can help get more clicks and views? No worries, here I have mentioned all the important tips for creating a remarkable meta description for your website’s pages.
Think About Your Searchers First:
Think about your searchers and ask why would somebody search for that specific thing. For that reason, you need to find targeted keywords on the page that could be helpful for the audience and most frequently searched by the relevant people. When you come up with targeted keywords, you can easily identify who your searchers are and what they have been looking for.
For example, if your page is about “What is SEO?” then your meta description should be highly relevant and describe all the important keywords in it. your description should be something like that, “SEO or search engine optimization is a process of improving the visibility of your website on search engine results.” The description is on-point, relevant, precise, and according to the search query.
If you add more details about SEO in it, you might lose the audience’s interest as it will not be according to their query.
Include Primary Keywords Even if They are in the Title:
I know you will find lots of advice on Google that do not to repeat the keywords in the second line if they are already in the first line. Well, that shouldn’t be followed.
Even if your keyword is already included in the title, you need to use it in the meta description as well to make it more compelling. Repetition of keywords does not create any issues, in fact, it makes things more relevant.
Producing a great meta description is not all about the perfect flow. It’s mainly about getting more and more people to read and click on the page. This might sound like a promotional approach but it really works.
Make it as Engaging as Possible:
The most important thing you need to keep in mind is, to make your meta description as engaging as possible. And you can do that in two common ways:
- Answer the query directly and clear misconceptions
- Create some curiosity to pique searchers’ interest, so they can click the link as soon as they encounter your description.
If you want to engage interest by delivering the answer to the most frequently asked question, then answer it directly and don’t add further details. You may get fewer clicks but people will appreciate you and may visit your website again.
But if you want to get more clicks and views, focus on the curiosity factor.
In most cases, people prefer to follow a combined. They give answers to the queries and hence create curiosity in the next line to engage visitors.
If you want both, you need to come up with a very creative meta-description that describes what your audience will get when they read your content as opposed to others.
Including Company Name in the Meta Description:
If you are a reliable and reputable company in the market that people already know and appreciate, then you should definitely use your company name in the meta description (or maybe in the title as well). It will bring more recognition and credibility that other phrases might not able to bring.
HubSpot, Google, and other reliable companies prefer to use their names in titles and descriptions which gives them more authority and credibility among others. However, in many cases, this practice is not feasible. Perhaps you need to add more relevant things first rather than adding a company name. Or if the organization’s name is too big to add, then it’s better to avoid adding the name.
Do Not Hesitate to Use Punctuation:
It feels quite tempting to save every possible character for words. So, most of the time, it is recommended to avoid that practice. Searchers usually scan SERPS results to understand the basic concept or context of the content. Most of them do not prefer to read meta description word for word. Therefore, you need to add punctuation, pick up important keywords, use fewer words, and more breaks.
Bring Some Power to the Description:
You can make your meta description more compelling by adding some powerful elements to it. There are a few power elements that can stand out in your description. Some of them are:
- Qualifiers
- First-person references
- Intensifiers
- Prepositions
- Weasel words
- Passive phrases
By adopting such elements, I am sure that your description will look 100% better than your stiff competitors.
Final Words:
Have you ever implemented these practices while creating meta descriptions? If yes, then what would your success score be? And if not yet, then now is the time to take benefit of these practices and consider implementing them to achieve the highest visibility and ranking in Google search engine results.
In case, you feel difficulty writing meta tags, you can always reach out to our specialists at White Links who can help produce effective meta tags by following the latest trends and practices. Contact us to get more suggestions for improvement in on-page SEO.