Five Tricks to Writing a Strong Meta Description

It seems the concept of Search Engine Optimization is constantly discussed – and rightfully so. Truthfully, it’s difficult to discuss creating great websites and publishing top notch content without SEO being part of the conversation. After all, SEO is what drives content and what determines the likelihood of its success with a given audience. However, SEO is a largely broad topic. It involves so many factors such as keywords, outbound links, and social media engagement. Perhaps an overlooked factor to SEO is the meta description. All other SEO factors aside, your meta descriptions can make or break your online success. A good meta description will beg the audience to click, while a bad one can lead it to scroll past, even if your website is packed with valuable information. Read on to discover five tricks to writing a strong meta description to remember when putting together your next description.

Quality over Quantity

This adage rings true for just about anything – and that’s because, well, it’s true. The same goes for meta descriptions. Yes, you have the space to include about 150 characters into your meta description, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it. Some organizations may get into the habit of filling out all 150 because the idea that it is longer means it will be more likely to be well received by Google’s metrics. In fact, the opposite is more likely to be true. Pressuring yourself to fill out the text box could either indicate you’re including too much “fluff” (wordiness, jargon, or otherwise unsubstantial information), or you are keyword stuffing which, if flagged by Google, can wreck site and page relevancy. If your meta description goes 150 words, that’s fine. Just make sure it is concise and includes words your audience wants to see.

Best Foot Forward

One of the last things you’d want to see is that your meta description is displaying something other than what you had written. Unfortunately, this can happen if your meta description is too long and thus gets truncated by Google. Expect that this may happen. If it does, make sure your description’s most critical information is listed in the first sentence. Not only will your reader see this first, but it’s less likely to get shaved off in a Google truncation.

Switch It Up

Meta descriptions are critical, but they become much less valuable to Google metrics if the same one gets recycled in multiple spots. Include a great meta description for your website’s home page, but then be sure to created different descriptions for other website locations. Not only will this be more favorable to Google, but it will also allow you to incorporate a variety of keywords throughout the site that should allow for a great number of searches to lead to your content.

Be Proactive

Perhaps the most important tip to keep in mind is to be confident when crafting your meta descriptions. What we mean by this is to include a call to action and use active voice as much as possible. You want your reader to feel that they’re missing out if they don’t click on your descriptions. Additionally, passive voice is generally more wordy than active voice, and meta descriptions are no places to waste space.

Mix Up Keywords

Do your research to discover which keywords people are including in their searches and match them in your meta descriptions. This will necessarily be a constantly ongoing process due to ever-changing consumer trends. In doing this, you’ll position yourself ahead of the competition by being one step ahead.

Reach out to us at RedMoxy Communications. We have helped many B2B companies improve their SEO and display professional content through an online presence, including meta descriptions. Click here or call (262) 303-4238.