Just like your page title, the meta description of your website matters. Why? Because Google displays your website description in its search results.
Besides ranking in the top 5 on your keywords, the meta description and page title of your website are the two most important aspects of getting web traffic from Google. Write a compelling title and a complementing description and your click throughs will increase significantly.
Let’s look at the following example and see which one you would be most likely to click on.
Suppose you wanted to know more about Elvis™. So, you type a quick search phrase ‘elvis’ into Google and here’s what you get.
Example Search - Click to Enlarge
You can see the Google “golden triangle” (more on that later) which is usually the top 3 results for any search keyword. #1 and #2 look like they might be pretty good. But look at #3.
- They go ahead and tell you that their site is “unofficial” so if you are doing any kind of real research you can go ahead and scratch them off the list.
- Google has apparently flagged the site with the date August 14, 1998. Um, can you say “stale content?”
- The description is vague and offers no real insight into the usefulness of the website.
- There is no good reason that this search result should be clicked (other than it is in the “golden triangle” most likely because of age or incoming links).
Now that you’ve seen what not to do, let’s take a look at what makes a great meta description.
- The meta description should be complimentary and more detailed than the page title. It should give a better reason to click the search result than just the page title alone.
- The important part of the meta description is the first 150-160 characters. Get your relevant keywords near the beginning.
- Your description should also include keywords that your audience will be searching for.
- Each descriptor should be unique to the page it represents. One meta description for an entire site is not recommended.
- Anything related to the page is better than nothing. If you don’t have a meta description, Google will try to guess what your page is about and select a description for you.
- If you are using Wordpress, the All in One SEO plugin will let you set unique page titles and descriptions for each page or post.
While results may vary and no one can truly optimize the way Google represents their site in search results (Google can do whatever it wants with your ranking), getting your page titles and meta descriptions in order will go a long way towards increasing your search engine related traffic.
Did I leave anything out? How do you optimize your meta information? Comment below.
