What Is The Meta Description Tag?
A meta description (as known as meta description property or tag) is an HTML part that defines and summarizes the contents of your page for the benefit of the users and search engines.
In WordPress and in SEO, the term meta tags include:
- Meta description
- Meta Title
You can see them when you edit a post or page, they look the same both in Text and Visual mode.
If you are using All-in-one plugin, these parameters are added automatically and you can see it as a rather pale text, as shown below:
While meta-data is not necessary for SEO rankings as it used to be, the meta description still plays a vital role in on-page SEO.
The meta description is a ~160-character snippet tag in HTML which compiles a page’s content.
Although, search engines show the meta description in search events mostly when the searched phrase is contained in the description. A meta description is a property within your meta tags that help explain your page.
This snippet of text may be shown in the search engine results under your title; sometimes, the search engines will extract a snippet of text from the main body copy of the page instead.
Characteristics Of A Good Meta Description
It should contain about 135 to 160 characters.
There is no ‘standard number or character’ as regards this. It solely depends on what Google adds to your search result and how much they want to show.
Google might decide, to add the date to an article, and which will eventually lessen the number of characters.
However, the rule of thumb is that 135 characters are usually fine. Recently, we have seen some meta descriptions that comprises over 250 characters.
It should include a call-to-action.
“Hello, we have this and this type of product. Find out more!” This overlaps the active voice, but make sure that it’s connected to your sales text, where your product is the page is linked, not the product on that page. Examples of call-to-action include Learn more, get it now, try for free etc.
It should contain structured content.
If you have a product for a tech-savvy, focusing on the technical specifications of the product is a good idea. If the customers are looking for that product, chances are you do not have to persuade them before they buy.
Things like a price will generate clicks. Note that you could, of course, use good snippets for this as well.
The content should match.
This is very significant. Google will find the meta descriptions that deceive the visitor into clicking. Google might even discipline the website that created the meta description.
Next, to that, it will might the increase bounce rate and which is bad for the website. However, you should make sure that the meta description to tallies with the content on the page.
It should contain the focus keyword.
If the search keyword matches words in the meta description, Google will be more willing to use that meta description and display it in the search results, and this will make the link more related.
The meta description should be unique.
If your meta description is duplicated, the user experience in Google will reduce. If you are tempted to create an identical meta description, it is advisable to leave the description blank and have Google pick a snippet from the page carrying the keyword used in a search.
Click Here To Learn More What To Do With The Meta Tags In All In One SEO Pack.
The Bottom Line
In Conclusion, a well-written meta description can give your website an edge in search engine results pages (SERPs), leading to more click-through to your website where you have more possibilities to convert that client into a lead or new customer.
Besides, search engines do not use meta descriptions in the way they rank pages, but they use click-through-rate (CTR).
Moreover, do you know what improves your pages click-through-rate? Visitors finding significance in your meta descriptions and clicking your links!
Thanks for taking time to read this article and hopefully I have given you enough information what is the meta description tag all about. If you have any questions about this, just leave them in the comment section below.
Cheers
-Maun
