How to Write a Meta Description That Gets Clicks
The main thing to do to get your web pages to appear in the Search Engine Results Pages is to optimize them for search engines (SERPs). However, it does not guarantee that people who find your article through a search will click on the link to read it, instead of reading similar other articles. Of course, you create web pages to be read, not just to be displayed to a large number of people. This is why you must concentrate on meta descriptions in addition to writing excellent content while keeping search engine optimization factors in mind.
A meta description is a 160-word summary of the content that attracts search engine users. Meta descriptions play no direct role in search engine optimization. However, it becomes extremely important once you write an SEO-friendly article and it appears on Google’s first page. When a user searches for something on Google and finds ten articles with nearly identical headlines, how does he or she decide which one to click on? Of course, by looking at the meta description beneath the link. Search engines prioritize articles with a high click-through rate (CTR) or the number of people who click on the article. The audience is given a brief overview of the content via meta descriptions. You will be able to pique their interest in your post and persuade them to read it over the others if you write these 160 words correctly. Hence, as a Jacksonville SEO Company, we will show you how to appropriately write the meta description for your content in this article.
How to Write a Meta Description That Gets Clicks?
- Make use of appropriate keywords
If you publish content that is optimized for search engines, you are already familiar with keyword research. If not then first you to learn about how to approach keyword research. You must include relevant keywords in your text naturally. If you use the proper keywords in your meta descriptions, Google will readily understand the fundamental idea of your content and will rank your article at the top of its search results when people search for the keywords in your meta description. The keyword is also highlighted in your meta description by Google.
The keywords must, however, be used naturally in the meta description, just as they must in the text. That means, the meta description should be as reader-friendly as possible, and not stuffed with keywords unnecessarily. Add one or two keywords for each meaningful phrase. If you insert all the possible keywords here and there in your meta description, it will look spammy, and Google will lower your website ranking.
Jacksonville SEO experts will suggest you try to write in a conversational tone. You can use Ubersuggest for keyword research. Don’t make the mistake of using the same keywords for nearly similar web pages. Using different keywords will help each of your pages to appear on Google search for the specific keywords. For example, if you have a digital marketing agency that provides SEO services, the relevant keywords of your webpage would be “On-page SEO”, “On-page SEO services”, “SEO services” etc.
2. Don’t worry about the word count
As mentioned earlier, the maximum word limit of meta descriptions is 160. But that doesn’t mean you must write that much. If you can convey your message in fewer words, with relevant keywords correctly inserted, don’t hesitate to stop much before the word limit. At the same time, if you cannot complete your sentences meaningfully in that limitation, feel free to write more. But keep in mind that Google will cut off the extra portion than 160 characters (not words ), and the users won’t see that portion in the search results, so add the keywords and relevant details in the first 160 words.
Let us take the example of the digital marketing agency again. Suppose you are writing on “how SEO helps business”, you can write a meta description like this, “SEO makes a business website get on top of search results. People trust a business more when they see it again and again. SEO helps to build brand awareness and to get potential customers to the website easily. It eventually increases the conversion rate.” But on Google, it will show like, “SEO makes a business website get on top of search results. People trust a business more when they see it again and again. It helps to build brand awareness and to get potential customers to the…….”.
It doesn’t mean that if users see the truncated results they would not click on the links. Sometimes they are tempted to read those articles with trimmed meta descriptions out of curiosity. But generally, it is advised to write shorter meta descriptions and longer articles to have a greater chance to rank on Google.
3. Optimize your webpage for rich Snippets
Creating snippets will enhance the chance of your article getting clicked. Your article will stand out from the crowd when you add snippets along with the right title, URL, and meta description. Webpages with snippets appear much more engaging to Google than those without them. It gets to recognize the key information provided in your content and places it in the search result accurately.
To create rich snippets, you need to put structured data markup to the web pages and write what your content is all about. You can also insert additional information here, which would otherwise overload your article. Here is an example of a rich snippet. If you search “what are the top 10 SEO strategies” on Google, you will find some key points on SEO in bullet form before the first link. That’s the featured snippet. This link will, of course, get much more clicks than the rest. Now, you need to keep in mind that not every topic will make a rich snippet. Some types of content like recipes have much more scope here.
4. Do not duplicate
There is a strict warning while writing meta descriptions. Never copy your competitors’ descriptions, regardless of how similar the main topics are. Duplication of meta description hampers the search engine optimization ranking of your website badly. As mentioned earlier, do not copy your meta description for other close web pages as well. They all will then compete for the same keywords you use and the overall click-through rate (CTR) of your website will decrease. So, make sure that you write a unique meta description for all your web pages.
It is true that the job of writing a summary of each web content in only 160 words that too with necessary keywords inserted organically, is pretty challenging. According to the Internet Marketing Service, if you are not confident enough about your writing abilities, it is better to leave the meta description part completely. Google will automatically fill that portion of your content then. The best idea would be, however, to hire an SEO expert for this purpose.
5. Use Interesting Words
To grab the attention of potential readers, you must use striking words or phrases, just as you do for headlines. You can take inspiration from your competitors’ websites. At the same time, never compromise with the amount of information you can give in that small space, to make your meta description linguistically interesting.
Think of yourself as a Google user. When you search with certain keywords and look through, take ten different meta descriptions on the first page. Which one would you click on? Which words in the meta description compel you to do so? Write those words in your meta description. Many content writers prefer using words like “best”, “popular”, “top”, etc. Words like “learn”, or “know” work well too. Of course, you need to include these words in your content only when they are relevant. Another important thing that you need to add to your content is a call-to-action or CTA. These words like “Click to know more”, “Buy now”, entice people to click on your article and read it.
Conclusion
Though it is not directly related to search engine optimization, you cannot deny the importance of your content’s meta description in ranking your webpage on the first ten search results and gaining more organic traffic. Remember that when a search engine user goes through all of the search results on the first page, he or she quickly gets a sense of what each content is about based on only the title, image, and meta description. Because everyone is busy, users only click on article links whose meta description appears to be interesting and capable of meeting their needs. Each of your web pages should have a distinct, interesting, and informative meta description.
You should also include meta descriptions on your product pages. If this seems like too much work, at the very least include the meta descriptions of your home page and the most important pages. Even if you follow all of the above tips, keep one thing in mind: if Google thinks it doesn’t fit with the search, it will change it and place a more relevant portion of your text instead. However, your web pages will undoubtedly receive more clicks if you write the meta description of your page according to tips and techniques are given in the guide.
