More Search Engine Action by Changing Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions have been cast to the wayside. The common belief has circulated that they hold no value for search engine rankings and organic marketing. In truth, a compelling meta description can increase your click through rate and search ranking. While Google has made it clear that a meta description does not directly influence your search ranking, it can through other means since your ranking is influenced by your click-through rate – something a meta description can improve.

When planning your search engine marketing, remember that the more often a user clicks on your paid or organic listing, the more likely it is that your ranking will go up. The reason is common sense really. Google uses the click-through rate to determine whether or not the results they showed were relevant to the user and their search term. If they didn’t click, the results must not have been what they wanted whereas if the user did click-through, the site and information was relevant and should be shown again. The more consistently users click your listing, the higher up you will go in the search results.

With this in mind, it is important to identify what makes a user click a particular listing. This is important for both your Google marketing and your organic marketing. There are three main things that a user sees in a SERP: the title, URL and description.

A Title and Meta Description Should Include the Following

• Make it easy to read. Too often, people complicate their title and description unnecessarily. Keep it simple so that users have a clear example of what to expect when they click-through.

• Get curious. Whenever possible, peak a users interest by telling them part of the story and making them desire to learn more. This can also help with your organic marketing since when someone shares your blog or website, their friends will naturally want to learn more as well. An example would be, “find out this year’s hottest fashion trends”. You haven’t told them what the answer is, so they have to click to find out.

• Call-to-action. Inspire users to act by using statements like “click here”. Encouraging users to take action works well for getting them to your site and for converting users into buyers or customers.

• Use descriptive language. A reader wants to know what to expect when clicking on your listing. Your meta description should be full of clear information that helps them to understand rather than guess what is on your website. When your meta description accurately describes what is on your page, it will also decrease your bounce-back rate as users that visit your site want to be there.

• Select the right words. While the keywords in your meta description don’t matter for SEO, they do matter to users and can help to increase your CTR. A user will want to see words from their search term in your meta description so consider this carefully when writing it.

• Keep them short. A meta description can only be up to 156 characters long, and anything over this will be cut off. Be short and concise so that your entire description shows up.

We recommend that you go back through your meta descriptions and make sure that they are written in a way that is interesting, compels users to act and contains the keywords that users typically search for when visiting your site. Taking these simple steps can improve your organic marketing and search rankings.