Everything You Need to Know About Meta Titles and Descriptions

11 Minute Read
Written by: Branko Ilishev
Dec / 01 / 2021

It is said that “you only have one chance to create a first impression,” and this is especially true when it comes to increasing the number of conversions on your website. Anyone who wants to be successful in SEO positioning must understand what a meta title and description are and go through the process of learning how to write them properly.

It is vital to work on every component of your SEO strategy in order to ensure that it is implemented successfully. Before even considering clicking on a result, the audience will notice the meta title and description, which are both displayed at the top of the search engine results page. The content on your page must therefore be as appealing to the reader as possible in order to raise the organic visibility of your page and increase the click-through rate that it obtains from search engines.

Throughout this post, we will give you all of the required information that will allow you to understand how meta titles and descriptions function. We will also provide you with important ideas that, when implemented, will assist you in improving your positioning.

The importance of the meta title and description

They both are the essence of website optimization. According to WordPress, 70 million of blog entries are produced every day, indicating that you will encounter stiff competition when attempting to rank in Google’s search engine results page.

The results on the first page of the search engine results page receive 71.33% of all clicks, while the results on the first five pages receive 67.60% of all clicks.

That is why it is critical to write the meta title description and incorporate a target keyword phrase within the content. This assists search engine crawlers in determining the type of material on a page or post and whether or not it should be given a higher ranking.

Meta titles are not always the same as the title that appears on the landing page of your website and vice versa. Thanks to the titles that appear on the results page, people and search engines alike are informed about what you have to offer on your page.

In addition, they provide a signal of how relevant a website is to the search words that were entered into the search engine. As a result, your page titles should be as accurate and relevant as possible to your content. To accomplish this, you must learn to make the most of the limited number of letters available in a title, while also employing the appropriate terms.

Meta descriptions, on the other hand, show in the search engine results page alongside the title and URL. This brief text can either increase or decrease your click-through rate depending on how you word it. Including keywords in the body of the meta description can help you rank higher in search results since search engines consider it to be a sign of relevancy.

Including your keywords in a natural way could work, but it’s not a must to include them. Promoting your website with an impactful message to the general audience is the key to writing a compelling meta description. In this method, you will draw the attention of your target audience as well.

Meta titles

The perfect length for meta titles

One of the most common mistakes individuals make when creating meta titles is excessive length. Because a meta title that is too long can result in a page title that appears cluttered or nonsensical on the search engine results page, it is necessary to include keywords, but they should be the most important keywords for a page. Users may find it disconcerting if a meta title is created that is too brief, and it may also be a missed opportunity to attract their attention.

Even Google, believe it or not, is unable to provide a precise number that will work in all circumstances. Those who want to be on the safe side will argue that meta titles should not be more than 50 characters, while those who want to squeeze every last bit of room for attractive material may say that meta titles should be no longer than 70 characters.

There is a wide variation in the recommended number because the space available is determined by the number of pixels available, not the number of letters, and some letters take up more pixels than other letters. It’s best to keep meta titles around 60 characters, which is a good compromise that works 90% of the time. However, you should verify your sites in the search engine result page from time to time by typing the meta title into Google and checking how your page appears in the results.

Create an attractive meta title

There are two important factors to consider when writing an SEO-friendly meta title for use in Google search results. The first of these are the keywords. When creating a page, the most significant keyword should always appear in the H1 and meta title. This informs Google that the phrase or term in question is significant and serves as the primary theme of your content. This is the word that users will use to find your page when searching online. It increases your chances of getting clicked on if it’s the first thing people see when they get to your website.

The second item to consider is the way the title is written. You must add words that are appealing to the searcher and will compel them to click on your link. It would help if you also appealed to a specific target. For example, search engine optimization content for content marketing is frequently in the form of training resources and guides. For example, if you’re writing the meta title for a learning guide for one of your products, you should choose language that makes your content appear authoritative and useful.

Nowadays, emojis are increasingly being used in the meta title of websites by website owners. This action can be beneficial in attracting the user’s attention; nevertheless, it should not be used excessively; the content should be the most significant feature of the title, not the action.

Meta description

Get the meta description right

The meta description displayed below the site URL should not be more than 150-155 characters in length. In addition, the additional length of the meta description provides more keyword options, which means you should be able to include the primary keyword that you are re-optimizing along with two or three additional keywords that you want to optimize for.

Regularly check to see how your websites are shown in search engines, mainly if you have used a meta title and description that is closer to the character limits given above. This can be accomplished by simply pasting the URL of your website into the Google search box. Keep in mind that it might take up to three days for a website to appear in the search results, so don’t be alarmed if your page does not appear in Google the day after you publish it on the internet.

If you are writing a meta description for your blog post, in the search result, provide the user with a portion of the solution to the problem. Suppose you own a furniture company, for example. In that case, you could produce a paragraph including five suggestions for organizing a baby’s room, reveal one of those ideas in the meta description, and inform the reader that even more ideas await him after clicking on the link.

It would be best if you also appealed to the user’s emotions and senses. “Soft material,” “comfortable bed,” “intense and calm sleep,” “smooth surface.” You will pique the interest of a potential consumer and encourage him to make a purchase in your store as a result of the terms you utilize.

Update your meta title and description

Allow yourself to not be stressed out by the idea that you must write your meta title and description perfectly the first time you do so. Most importantly, you need to choose and target a keyword phrase that your content and meta tags can effectively target.

As time passes, you will frequently uncover new and better approaches to boost your meta tags as a result of SERP and competitor analysis. You may also discover that your sites rank for keywords other than the ones you are targeting, in which case you can include those keywords in the meta title and meta description instead of the ones you are targeting. However, while SEO will always include a substantial degree of trial and error, the most important thing to remember is to have clear objectives, a firm grasp of your progress, and a keen watch on your competition.

Things not to do when creating meta title and description

First and foremost, prioritize the potential customer’s demands over the needs of the search engine. As a result, try to figure out what challenges the user is experiencing and what they genuinely want, and then develop high-quality content around those findings and focus on including your keywords. The same way there are things NOT to do when optimizing a website content, there are also things to avoid when optimizing the meta tiles and descriptions.

Duplication of meta title and description

In addition, duplication of a meta title and description is a common blunder. Incorrectly, many website owners feel that it is sufficient to create tags (particularly meta descriptions) only for the home page and then copy and paste them into the HTML code of individual subpages; however, this is incorrect. When it comes to subpages, the uniqueness of the meta title and meta description is quite significant since they give the buyer with relevant information about a specific collection group.


Meta title and description that are incompatible with the content

Another error is to create a meta title and description that is incompatible with the page’s content being optimized for. What exactly are you assuring the user that they will not find on the page after clicking on a specific link? You can be certain that you will lose a potential consumer if you do things like this.
Leaving out the meta description

Another error is to leave out the meta description entirely and not to fill it out. Choosing not to develop your own description might have a negative impact on the amount of traffic that comes to your website and, consequently, the amount of conversion.


Acting too quickly

One final, simple, but critical piece of advice applies to all metatags: don’t make them too quickly. Even if we may be thrilled with the response to our blog post or just relieved that it is out of our hands and on a website, not regulating our emotions is not helpful for search engine optimization. Once you’ve completed producing the content for your pages, you should devote the same amount of time and effort to optimizing your meta title, description, and alt text tags; this will guarantee that your content is correctly represented in the search engine results pages.

Take a brief pause and have a cup of coffee, tea or enjoy good chocolate. This will give you the extra bit of patience you’ll need to focus and target your meta titles, as well as assist you to avoid making silly mistakes like exceeding the word count or forgetting to include important keywords in your meta titles. Your search engine rankings will significantly improve if you adhere to the guidelines provided here.


Conclusion

While optimizing a website’s on page SEO, it is critical to consider the meta title and description that is displayed on the page. Several recommendations have been shown to be effective in increasing the SEO relevance of sites and in encouraging user clicks on such pages.

Click-through rates are increased on a page with optimized results, which means that a result in second place may receive more clicks than a result in the first position. When this occurs, Google will detect a more significant level of interest from users and will rank the website with the best meta title and description at the top of the search results page. And, this is precisely the purpose of writing an optimized meta title and description!

About the Author

Picture of Branko Ilishev

Branko Ilishev

Branko is your SEO prodigy. He manages the SEO team and finds creative solutions for your online visibility problems by thinking out-of-the-box. He also translates the collected data of analytics into understandable information that gives you concrete insights.