Important Things You Need to Know About Writing Meta Descriptions

While it may be tempting to skip over meta descriptions, they are written for a reason as they serve a purpose. Much like a blurb on the back of a book, they give the overall description of a website, giving search engines and those looking at the site a chance to get a summarized but concise blurb of the content. All of the meta tags, title and meta keyword tags all make up a website's metadata. Here are some important things to remember as you write meta descriptions.

1) Remember Their Function

As mentioned before, it can be tempting to skim over the meta as you prepare to launch your website. But it is important to remember as you write that a metadata's function will only improve your website and help its performance. As the meta description guides the search engines, this will help improve your website's ranking and traffic. A well written metadata doesn't have to be too difficult or time consuming.

2) Keep Them Concise

Metas that are extremely repetitive, use only one word or phrase or are written in all capitalized letters will not create an effective meta description. In fact, search engines may even flag this as spam, and potential visitors will avoid your site altogether. It is important that the meta description be informative, but also grab the readers' attention. Don't go on and on either, it is best to make your description as short and concise as possible. If you can shorten it to one sentence, that is an ideal length.

3) Use About 150 to 160 Characters

If you don't have a meta description for your website, the search engine will pick up about 150 to 160 words that may or may not match the search results. By keeping the description at this length, you will also have a much better chance of not having any words cut off.

4) Use Keywords

Most search engines will highlight or bold the key terms that are included in the user's search. If that keyword is found in the title of the article or page, or throughout the content, then it is bolded. This is why it is suggested that you use keywords or terms throughout your content. However, if overused then a keyword isn't as effective. It is best to use a keyword about three to five times throughout the content, depending on its length. Using key terms in your description is helpful when trying to catch a user's eye.

5) Use Unique Descriptions

If you feel like you don't have a fresh new description to give to your page and decide to copy and paste from a previously written description, think again. Using a duplicated meta description can hurt your webpage because duplicated content is automatically a cause for a lower ranking. This is why it is wise to write a unique description for each page. If you have pages with similar content, try writing descriptions specifically about your product, like the name, color or brand.

If you choose not to write a meta description for your page, your content management system will create one for you. However, knowing the proper strategies to write your own is always handy!