Meta Descriptions
What are meta descriptions?
Meta descriptions are a meta tag that search engines often display in their results.
The meta description is the text below the title tag and URL.
Meta descriptions do not directly impact Google rankings. They can, however, affect clickthrough rates.
For that reason, they are low on the totem pole in terms of what most websites need. I recommend optimizing meta descriptions for key pages. More below.
How meta descriptions look in HTML
<head>
<meta name=”description”> content=”[Insert description here. For example, Browse top SEO companies in North Carolina. Find services.]”>
<head>
Most folks won’t need to know how to write the HTML. Most website builders (e.g. Squarespace) and plugins (Yoast for WordPress) allow you to easily write meta descriptions without writing any HTML.
Which meta descriptions should I optimize?
As we’ve said, meta descriptions can lead to more clicks which may indirectly impact rankings.
We’d recommend writing meta descriptions for pages that get many first page impressions in Google.
Write a meta description for your homepage, for your product/service pages, and other top-level content on your site.
But you may not need to write descriptions for blogs that never show up in Google.
Once you take care of the priorities (homepage + other key pages) your time might be better spent creating new content or improving your user experience.
How to optimize meta descriptions
Write meta descriptions the same way you’d write a blog. Make it compelling. Be succinct. Be informative.
Meta descriptions above ~155 characters or may get cut off. According to Moz, Anywhere in the 50-150 character mark is good.
Keywords used in a search may appear bold in the meta description. See screenshot above. “SEO companies” and “North Carolina” are bolded because they were in the search.
Wrapping up
We wouldn’t recommend harping on meta descriptions with your SEO company. Yes, make sure they are optimized for key pages. But they won’t directly impact rankings.
If an SEO company is trying to sell meta descriptions as a fancy way to improve your rankings then they are misleading you or are uninformed.
Meta descriptions should be used as needed but shouldn’t take away resources/time from the factors that matter most: content, links, and keyword research.