Treat Description Meta Tags as Keyphrase-Rich Ads
In the source code of each webpage, description meta tags look like this:
<meta name="description" content="Write your description here.">
When search engines rank competing webpages, they give significant weight to the words that appear in their description meta tags.
Search engines also consider using description meta tags as the text displayed underneath page titles. However, if a description meta tag doesn't include a prominent keyphrase, search engines will use "snippets" from the webpage instead.
In search engine results, webpage descriptions look like this:
In the example above, note that Google displays the search term in bold and gives high rankings to webpages where the search term (i.e., "keyphrase") appears early in the description meta tags.
In fact, there are two incentives for optimizing description meta tags:
- higher search engine rankings
- higher click-thru rates
Copywriting Tips for Description Meta Tags
- Optimize each description meta tag for the same keyphrase as its accompanying title tag.
- Insert the primary keyphrase at the beginning of the description meta tag and then one more time before the end.
- Don't overstuff keyphrases into description meta tags, or else your webpages may be penalized as search engine spam. Instead, write complete and easy-to-read sentences.
- Description meta tags should contain approximately 160 characters, including spaces.
Compete for click-thrus by writing each description meta tag as if it were advertising. So, in 160 characters or less, use each description meta tag to promote the benefits of visiting its webpage.
Prepare for Your Description Meta Tags to be Ignored
In the spirit of hoping for the best but preparing for the worst, it's also a good idea to plan for Google to ignore a description meta tag and use a snippet from your webpage instead. If that happens, there's a very good chance that Google will use a snippet that includes your primary keyphrase. So, try to mention benefits, or reinforce your call-to-action, within a few words of wherever your keyphrase appears.
