Here at The Web Marketing Group, we’re big believers in using meta description tags as a way of improving and optimizing a website for SEO purposes, so if you haven’t considered the importance of meta data before, we’re going to show you why you need to take an interest with these essential keyword optimisation tips. It’s never too late, and the sooner you get started, the sooner you can start driving more targeted traffic to your website.
Why Do It?
Many overlook the importance of meta description tags, but they have many uses. They are used to describe the content of the page and serve the purpose of being a mini advertisement for your web page. We believe they are still very important in helping websites and always recommend getting them just right when we take on SEO campaigns.
Where Will It Appear?
If you optimize your meta description tags, this data will appear in the search engine results below the page title. It’s like a snippet of your website, so you need to make it good.
Here is the meta data of our SEO page as it is displayed in Google:
Do I Really Need A Meta Description Tag?
If you don’t have meta description tags then you may find the search engines use an excerpt of text within the page content and display this instead. This can also happen if your meta description is irrelevant – the search engines will bypass it and rip some other text that they deem more valuable to the page title. So, instead of letting this happen it is essential that you take note of these keyword optimisation tips and optimize your meta description tags so that you can encourage relevant click-throughs.
How To Write A Meta Description
A useful tip for writing your meta description is to analyse your web page and write down a summary of what the page is about. Use this as a basis for your meta description content and then think about re-phrasing it and optimizing it with keywords. A couple of sentences that don’t contain over 150 characters is the general rule, so you need to make your meta description succinct. Be unique with your content – don’t just take a paragraph already on the web page and use this. Try and be compelling and informative with your short description, giving your site the best chance of being clicked on. After all, the searcher weighs up whether or not to click on your site based on the title and meta description tags, so utilise this HTML function and make the most of it!
Consider the word order for each meta description; vary it for every page and avoid being too generic. The HTML meta data content is an important part of your web page and should be viewed as an extension of your existing page content, using it to complement what’s already there.
It is also important to remember that the searcher will view your meta description tags as a brand association, so make sure you give the best impression of your site and adopt an honest, friendly tone. Use the meta keywords to increase your chance of being ranked for a particular phrase.
How To Find The Meta Description Tags
You can easily check the meta data of any web page by simply right-clicking the page and selecting 'View Source'. This will bring up a notepad screen with all the HTML code in. Towards the top you will see the meta content, which includes the meta title, meta description and meta keywords.
Here is the meta description tag for our SEO page:
Many people don't realise how the HTML meta data relates to and impacts on other areas of the site and also the Google listings. The meta tags in the View Source code not only show up in the Google results, but they also determine what appears at the top of each website and the meta title you choose is visible to each and every web user. That's why it is so important that you get the meta data right. It might just seem like 'another bit of code' but it is essential in the process of optimising a website. Be sure to remember how the meta data impacts on other important areas.
Our Recommendations - Keyword Optimisation Tips
We recommend optimizing your meta description tags so that you stand the best possible chance of someone clicking through to your site. Plus, the search engines still expect to see HTML meta data when they crawl a website, so use it to maximum effect.
If you need keyword optimisation tips and help with your meta description tags, our SEO team can help out. This is just one of the many SEO techniques we can recommend in order to boost your web presence. Talk to us today to find out more.
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