If you’re an avid search engine and Internet user, you’re probably familiar with meta titles and meta descriptions without even realizing it. When you enter keywords into a search engine, you’re greeted by a list of results, all containing a title and a short snippet underneath. What you’re seeing is a list of meta titles and descriptions that have been carefully curated by the creators of each website.
We all know that content writing is important for search engine optimization, but there are a few extra steps you must take if you want your long-form blogs to be seen by the prospective customers and clients you are trying to reach. In addition to keywords, H1 tags, and call-to-action usage, you must make sure your metadata is properly formatted if you expect to rank highly in search engines. In this blog, SERP Matrix will go into meta titles, meta descriptions, and how to write them.
What is a Meta Description?
Meta descriptions are extremely important if you hope to maximize your click-through rates. When your webpages and articles show up in search engines, the first thing the user will see before anything else is your meta description. Your webpage could be thousands of words long and contain some of the greatest content ever to be published to the Internet, but if your 160-character meta description isn’t written well enough, you’ll struggle to convince anyone to ever click on your page.
Meta descriptions are important to your website, but they don’t have to be intimidating. If you’re trying to write a better meta description for your webpages, make sure you’re using words that properly communicate the benefit of your content. 160 characters may not give you enough room to give your readers a complete synopsis of the information this webpage entails, but it is enough to highlight the content’s primary benefit while also providing them with a call to action.
For SEO purposes, make sure your meta descriptions also contain researched keywords. As Google’s algorithm continues to change, the effect that a meta description has on search rankings will continue to fluctuate. However, even though it may not influence SEO as much as it did once upon a time, you should still put time, effort, and research into crafting the best possible content snippet. Using targeted keywords can help the flow of your meta description while letting search engines know that this content is worthy of appearing in search engine results pages.
What is a Meta Title?
In technical terms, the meta title is the title of your webpage’s HTML document.
Simply put, meta titles (as known as title tags) act as the title of your webpage. When opening up a new website, the meta title is what you see in your browser’s tab. This title is key information that lets search engines and search engine users know what your content is about. Think of it as a more concise meta description; you may not have much space to describe your content, but this is still essential if you are trying to make sure your visitors know exactly what they are about to read.
To write a good meta title, you typically should attempt to include both your company name and your primary keyword. Though this can sometimes be difficult depending on how long each of these keyphrases might be, careful planning can help you write the most effective meta title without wasting the few characters you have to work with.
Also, make sure your meta title is no more than 70 characters. If you surpass 70, your title may be shortened when appearing in search engine results pages. For example, if your webpage titled “Lawn Moving Company in Houston, TX | Best Weed Removal Service in Houston, Texas” appears in a Google search result, because it is over 70 characters, you run the risk of it appearing as “Lawn Moving Company in Houston, TX | Best Weed Service in…” which may decrease your chances of converting a reader into a customer.
Can I Write My Own Metadata?
Meta tags and meta descriptions may be short, but they can drastically effect your search engine optimzation. Regardless of how small this may seem, you will absolutely have to do this if you are aiming to maximize your digital marketing efforts. Because of this, experts suggest hiring a professional to handle your web content, regardless of how long or short it may be.
SERP Matrix | Houston TX Content Writing Services
Metadata cannot be overlooked if you are trying to maximize the effectiveness of your SEO and digital marketing efforts. There are many simple steps you can take to ensure your content and webpages are being seen by the intended audience. However, there are simple mistakes you can make that have the potential to bury your content in a sea of search engine results pages. If you’re trying to make sure your website isn’t suffering from a lack of technical SEO, one of the first steps you should take is ensuring your metadata is properly written.
We hope this blog has helped you understand the importance of meta titles, meta descriptions, and how to properly create them. If you’re still lost, our team is here to help. At SERP Matrix, we have a team of specialists on hand to help you with your search engine optimization. Our expert content writing services ensure you have well-written content that properly reflects your brand, and our web design team mobilizes these written words to create a webpage that amazes your customers and beats your competition. For more information on how we can be of assistance, contact us today at
713-287-1134 for a free consultation with a member of our team. You can also fill out a form on our online contact page and a member of our team will be in touch with you shortly.
