A description, also known as a meta description, is a piece of text that is displayed below the title of a search result and explains the contents of the content. If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably heard that meta descriptions are important for
SEO
.
Therefore, in this article, we will explain the SEO effects of meta descriptions, the optimal number of characters, and explain the basic way to write them. In addition, we have summarized the points that people tend to have trouble with regarding meta descriptions in a Q&A format, so please refer to it.
What is a meta description?
A meta description is a description of the content that is displayed below the title of search results, and is one of the meta tags in
HTML
format. The purpose of writing a meta description is slightly different depending on whether it is aimed at search engines or users.
The purpose for search engines is to correctly convey information to robots that judge content. Search engine robots judge content based on “HTML text,” so if the description is optimized for keywords, it becomes easier to judge the content appropriately.
The goal for users is to improve click-through rates. By stating that the description below the title contains the information that the user is looking for, this will lead to an increase in click-through rate.
In other words, it is important to optimize your meta description for both search engines and users.
SEO effect of meta description
From here, I will explain two SEO effects of meta descriptions.
Let’s look at each in turn.
Related to CTR (click-through rate)
First, an optimized meta description increases CTR (click-through rate). This is because users use title and meta description to decide which content to click on in search results.
Users look at the title and description and subconsciously decide which content is likely to solve their problems. In other words, by optimizing your meta description, you will be able to solve user problems, which will ultimately improve your CTR.
Additionally, improving CTR is said to have a positive impact on search rankings. The more people click on an article, the more the search engine determines that it is the article that users are looking for.
indirectly has a positive impact on SEO
Although there is some overlap with the above, improving CTR (click-through rate) will indirectly have a positive impact on SEO. Although meta descriptions themselves have no direct SEO effect, they can improve search rankings by increasing click-through rates.
In fact, there are cases where improved meta descriptions have increased click-through rates and improved search rankings. In other words, if you want to strengthen your SEO measures, meta descriptions are too important to ignore, and it is important to optimize them for each piece of content.
Basic ways to write a meta description
From here, we will explain the basics of how to write a meta description. There are 5 points and they are as follows.
1. Include the SEO keywords you are targeting in your content
2. Convey the benefits of reading content
3. Include benefits
4. Differentiate yourself from competing articles
5. Optimize your writing for your target audience
I will explain each point in turn.
Include the SEO keywords you are targeting in your content
First, include the SEO keywords you are targeting in your content in your description. This is because if the description contains the query (keyword) that the user searched for, that part will be displayed in bold.
Bold text visually appeals to users, which can lead to higher click-through rates.
Also, when rewriting your content in the future, check the search queries using Google Search Console, etc. and include them in the description.
Convey the benefits of reading content
Next, you need to convey the benefits of your content in your description. Users use the description to judge whether or not it will solve their problems. In other words, by writing something like “The benefits of reading this article are 〇〇”, you can expect to improve your click-through rate.
include benefits
Next, make sure to include the benefits of your content. It may be easier to understand benefits if you think of them as the “future” after reading the article. While benefits are the future, the above-mentioned benefits are just “features”.
Comparing this to beauty products and cosmetics, the merits are the ingredients and prices of the cosmetics, and the benefits include things like “use of the cosmetics will make your skin clearer.”
In other words, by describing what will happen to the user after reading the article, the user will be able to imagine a future where their problem is solved, which will lead to a significant increase in click-through rate.
Differentiate yourself from competing articles
Next, try to differentiate your article from your competitors. Before creating content, you may want to check the contents of the top 10 articles. At that time, check the contents of the meta description and find out what is written in advance.
For example, if a competing article is promoting positive elements, your company may deliberately promote negative elements. If you write a meta description that is different from competing articles, you will be able to attract users’ interest.
Make sentences optimized for the target
Lastly, be sure to write the best text for your target audience. If I were to list some typical examples, I think you would find that writing for men and writing for women are different. You will also need to optimize your writing depending on your child’s age.
In this way, it is necessary to write a description that matches the target you set when creating content, which will ultimately lead to an increase in click-through rate.
What is the optimal number of characters for a meta description?
So far, we have explained the basics of how to write a meta description. However, if you include all of the above in your description, the number of characters will inevitably increase. So, what is the optimal number of characters for a meta description?
In conclusion, it is recommended that the meta description be around 70 to 120 characters. The number of characters varies because the number of characters displayed varies depending on the medium the user is searching for and the keyword.
However, although there are various theories, basically there is no problem if it is around 70 characters. This is because, in most cases, only around 70 characters are displayed when searching on a smartphone, PC, or tablet.
However, search engines also check the content of your meta description, so keep it to around 120 characters at most so that search engines can properly convey the content.
Meta description Q&A
Finally, we’ll answer some common questions you may have when setting up your meta description.
Let’s look at each in turn.
Where should I write it?
First, insert the meta description inside the head tag.
<meta name=”description” content=”〇〇”>
There is no problem in writing the description in the 〇〇 part above. However, if your website is run on
WordPress
, I think most of them have installed plugins for SEO. If so, there is a field in the SEO plug-in where you can write a description, so we recommend that you write it there.
There is no problem with inserting HTML, but if WordPress data is lost, there is no way to recover it, so it would be better to handle it within the plugin.
Why is it not displayed?
Meta descriptions may not be displayed depending on the search keyword. In addition, in some cases, search engines automatically extract text within the content and reflect it in search results, rather than using pre-defined meta descriptions.
This means that your meta description may not appear even if there’s nothing wrong with your content. Regarding this, rewriting the content may change what is displayed, so if you really want to display the set text, the only way to deal with this is to rewrite the content.
Summary: Increase your click-through rate with meta descriptions
We have provided an overview of meta descriptions and the basics of how to write them. Meta description is an important item related to user click-through rate and indirectly affects SEO.
First of all, why not understand the basic points explained in this article and start by actually writing a meta description?