- What is a Meta Description?<\/a><\/li>
- Are Meta Descriptions a Google Ranking Factor?<\/a><\/li>
- Will Google always use your Meta Description?<\/a><\/li>
- How to write the perfect Meta Description<\/a><\/li>
- Where to add Meta Descriptions<\/a><\/li>
- How to find pages that are missing Meta Descriptions<\/a><\/li>
- Other common issues with Meta Descriptions (and how to fix them)<\/a><\/li>
- Next Steps: creating an action plan<\/a><\/li>
- Bonus tip: Tell Google what NOT to use as a Meta Description<\/a><\/li>
- In summary (AKA: TL;DR)<\/a><\/li>
- Over to you<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n
But let\u2019s start with the basics…<\/p>\n
What is a Meta Description?<\/h2>\n
A meta description is a short, descriptive summary of the content of a web page. In the HTML code of a page, it is contained within the attribute of the “description” meta tag in the <head> section. Search engines such as Google will often display the meta description under a page\u2019s title (set with the meta title tag<\/a>) in search results.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how a meta description looks in Google:<\/p>\n
![\"meta](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/meta-description.png\")
<\/p>\nAnd here\u2019s how it looks in HTML:<\/p>\n
<meta name=”description” content=”Check your Website with our free SEO tools from Seobility. Get insights to improve your search engine optimization.”><\/em><\/p>\n
Are Meta Descriptions a Google Ranking Factor?<\/h2>\n
Meta descriptions are not a direct<\/em> ranking factor. Google has been quite clear on that.<\/p>\n
So adding your target keyword to a page\u2019s meta description won\u2019t give it an immediate boost.<\/p>\n
But\u2026<\/p>\n
Meta descriptions do have an indirect<\/em> influence on rankings.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n
A well written Meta Description can improve your Click-Through Rate (CTR)<\/h3>\n
The best way to think of a meta description is like an ad.<\/p>\n
When a user is browsing a search result page (SERP) your meta description is a golden opportunity to tell them why they should choose YOUR page.<\/p>\n
Ignore those other 9 results searcher…. my page has what you need!<\/p>\n
A well written meta description (ad) can grab the attention of searchers and get you extra clicks.<\/p>\n
More clicks = more potential customers.<\/p>\n
And as a bonus…<\/p>\n
…those extra clicks MAY boost your rankings over time.<\/p>\n
Does Click-Through Rate influence rankings?<\/h3>\n
Many SEOs believe that Google uses click-through rate (CTR)<\/a> as a ranking factor.<\/p>\n
And in theory, it makes sense.<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say a site at position 5 is getting more clicks than the site at position 4. That could be a sign to Google that it serves the query better (or is a more popular brand) and they should rank it higher.<\/p>\n
And experiments like this one by Spark Toro\u2019s Rand Fishkin<\/a> back up the theory.<\/p>\n
![\"meta](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/sparktoro.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSidenote<\/strong>: we should point out that Rand\u2019s experiment was back in 2014, which in internet time means it occurred when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. In other words, what worked then, might not work now.<\/em><\/p>\n
On the flip side:<\/p>\n
Prominent Googlers such as Gary Illyes have stated publicly<\/a> that they don\u2019t use CTR in their algorithm.<\/p>\n
But regardless of whether CTR is a direct<\/em> ranking factor, once again, it most certainly is an indirect<\/em> ranking factor.<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
More clicks = more eyeballs on your content = more potential linkers.<\/p>\n
Before we move on, let\u2019s recap:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor<\/li>\n
- But a well written meta description can increase your click-through rate from search<\/li>\n
- Improving your click through rate may also lead to improved rankings over time<\/li>\n
- Meta descriptions can therefore be classed as having an indirect influence on rankings<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Will Google always use your Meta Description?<\/h2>\n
So, we know that a well crafted meta description can increase CTR.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a problem:<\/p>\n
For certain queries, Google will ignore your meta description and pick a snippet of text from the content of your page instead.<\/p>\n
A search for \u201cOnline SEO Software\u201d returns Seobility\u2019s homepage. But instead of our custom meta description, Google shows this snippet from the page\u2019s content:<\/p>\n
![\"replaced](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/replaced-meta-description-1024x206.png\")
<\/p>\nHow often will they do that? More than 60% of the time according to this recent study<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Sounds like writing a custom meta description is a waste of time then?<\/p>\n
Nope. Here are two reasons why.<\/p>\n
1. Your Meta Description is more likely to be rewritten for \u201cLong-Tail\u201d searches<\/h3>\n
Once your page ranks on page one, it won\u2019t just rank for your \u201cmain\u201d keyword. It will also rank for numerous long-tail variations.<\/p>\n
And it will generally<\/em> be those long-tail keywords where the meta description is rewritten.<\/p>\n
As around 70% of searches are for long-tail keywords<\/a>, the 60%+ figure in the Ahrefs study makes sense.<\/p>\n
For your \u201cmain\u201d keyword, Google will tend to show your custom meta description, particularly if it contains your target phrase.<\/p>\n
Google\u2019s actually trying to help you here. The algorithm is attempting to pick a more relevant snippet of text based on the search query. They\u2019re trying to get you more clicks!<\/p>\n
Sometimes they do a decent job\u2026<\/p>\n
![\"good](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/good-meta-desc.png\")
<\/p>\nThe query here was \u201cbest pool tables\u201d and they’re listing out the picks.<\/p>\n
Sometimes not so much\u2026<\/p>\n
![\"bad](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/bad-meta-desc1.png\")
<\/p>\n(see <\/span><\/i>the bonus tip<\/span><\/i><\/a> at the end of this guide for something you can do about that)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
And guess what?<\/p>\n
2. It\u2019s not just Google that uses your Meta Description<\/h3>\n
Newsflash: the internet isn\u2019t just Google.<\/p>\n
(although we know it can seem that way sometimes)<\/em><\/p>\n
Other search engines and social media platforms make use of the meta description tag.<\/p>\n
For example, Facebook will use a page\u2019s meta description in the absence of an open graph description tag.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s Facebook pulling the page title and meta description for a share:<\/p>\n
![\"meta](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/social-share.png\")
<\/p>\nSo even if Google rewrote every single one of your meta descriptions (which they won\u2019t)…<\/p>\n
…it\u2019s still going to be worth your while making sure all your pages have a meta description in place.<\/p>\n
How to write the perfect Meta Description<\/h2>\n
Convinced that meta descriptions are still important for SEO? Great! Now let\u2019s look at some tips and seo best practices for writing and optimizing them.<\/p>\n
1. Shoot for a Meta Description length under 1000px<\/h3>\n
Google will truncate meta descriptions longer than a certain length.
\npage title
\nWhich looks like this\u2026<\/p>\n![\"truncated](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/truncated-meta-description.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s the cutoff point? Somewhere around 155 – 160 characters.<\/p>\n
Though, to be honest:<\/p>\n
- \n
- it has been jumping around a lot over the past few years as Google test different layouts<\/li>\n
- it can vary between devices<\/li>\n
- There\u2019s not really a \u2018one size fits all\u2019 number of characters. It will depend on capital letters, punctuation, bolded words etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Which is why at Seobility we prefer to think in terms of pixels instead of character count when measuring the meta description length.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve found that (currently) a meta description under 1,000 pixels wide will be safe from truncation.<\/p>\n
And if you\u2019re wondering how the heck you\u2019ll work out how many pixels your meta description is\u2026<\/p>\n
…we\u2019ve developed a neat little tool that will do the job for you and helps you optimize your meta description length:<\/p>\n
![\"meta](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/meta-description-tester.png\")
<\/p>\n
- Are Meta Descriptions a Google Ranking Factor?<\/a><\/li>
![\"date](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/date-in-preview.png\")
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