How To Write Meta Descriptions For Blogs

Meta description can be a great factor if you want to improve your organic search results. 

Yes, that’s possible if they are well-written. 

A compelling meta description can provoke the user to click on your website to learn more. 

And you will be shocked to know that Google uses the suggested meta descriptions 37% of the time.

Other times, it uses the meta description by default.

Meta descriptions can be a game-changer for you when implemented with SEO tactics and keywords.

So, here in this blog, I am going to elaborate on how to write meta descriptions for blogs. 

And believe me, this blog is going to be a rock n roll journey as the entire blog is filled with practical and applicable tactics. 

So, let’s get started! 

But, before reading further, we will understand why meta description holds so much importance for blogs.

Why Is The Meta Description Important?

One of the main reasons why meta description holds so much importance even nowadays is due to its role in increasing the click-through rate. 

You know what, though Google claims that there are no direct benefits from the meta description in ranking in SERP but surely, there is an indirect benefit from it. 

Let me explain how.

You cannot neglect the fact that the main purpose of meta description is to get visitors to your site. 

You can take them as a mini Ad for your page, offering a preview of the page content.

See the image below and you will understand how I used the meta description as a mini Ad for my blog. 

A well-written meta description can easily increase the CTR and enhance the ranking of your website. 

See the graph below and you will understand what I am trying to explain. 

A page with a meta description has a higher CTR(click-through rate). And believe me, this does not end here. It also helps in indexing for ranking higher. 

It makes it easier for visitors to find your blog. Users usually click on the results after seeing the titles and meta descriptions. So, ensure you create a good impression on them. 

Write the meta description with the user in mind. 

Read more: Tweaks For Page Title & Meta Description That’ll Boost Your SEO Traffic & CTR

How Long It Can Be?

If you are thinking, you can write a meta description as long as you want, then you are kinda wrong. 

Let me explain my point with a live example. 

See the image below.

Though you can write meta descriptions as long as you want but Google will not completely show it as you can see in the image above.

So, you need to write the meta description characters’ length as prescribed by Google itself. 

In 2017, the SEOs got too excited when Google increased the length of meta description to 320 characters

But then in 2018, Google dropped the length back to 160 characters.

Google measures the meta description in pixels. Now, the limit on the desktop is 920 pixels, which is roughly 158 characters, and 680 pixels on mobile, which is roughly 120 characters. 

The meta description should be written in such a way that it explains to the readers what they are going to get on the page. 

Where Do We Add It?

This is one of the most asked questions on the internet about meta description and I am here to answer you. 

The answer is quite simple. 

In WordPress, at the place of the dashboard, there’s an option.

‘Titles and metas’, where you can easily find an option to write the meta description. 

In WordPress, Meta description tags look like this;

But in HTML code, you will have to code it and the coding looks like this, 

<meta name=”description” content=”A page’s description, one or two sentences.”/>

How To Make It SEO Friendly?

You now understand why the meta description is so important in ranking. Now, let’s understand how to write meta descriptions that are SEO-friendly for blogs. 

The reason why you should write SEO-friendly meta descriptions is to enhance the search visibility in SERP. A good & well-written meta description can increase your web page’s visibility up to 70%. 

When writing a good and SEO-friendly meta description, you will have to prioritize the user experience. 

Consider the following three elements to improve the user experience:

1. Properly answer the user’s query: “what is this page about?”, “how is my page better than other competitors in the market?”

2. Include the keywords: Including target keywords in the meta description can help in the ranking of your page.

3. Write customer-focused content: Once the reader has clicked on your website, you must inform them of what they will receive. Write what they need to hear. 

For more information, you can watch the video given below to learn about simple tips to write a meta description.

These are some of the basics of writing a good meta description.  

But this does not end here. There are some more tactics that will make the meta description help in converting. 

Let’s discuss them. 

Tips To Write Meta Description 

Put The Important Information First

Imagine how happy you’d be if I gave you the exact information you need without wasting a single second of your life.

This is exactly how you need to make your visitor feel while they read the meta description. 

The thing which you should always keep in mind while thinking about how to write meta descriptions is that it is supposed to communicate to the visitors. Also, talk about the benefits that your page is going to provide. 

If the web page is about some product or service, put such keywords at the beginning of the meta description. 

So that even if a user doesn’t read the entire meta description, they will have a general notion of what the website is about.

Write for the readers and not for algorithms. This means, write in a natural language and don’t stuff the keywords. 

Let me show you an example:

Include CTA( Call To Action)

Just answer a simple question, why do you write meta descriptions?

So that the reader reads it and decides to visit your website. 

But, if a meta description doesn’t compel the user to take action?

So, how are you going to make the user take action and click on your web page?

The solution is simple: employ a call to action (CTA).

Do you know a CTA can increase the click-through rate by 20%? And CTR between 10% and 20% is considered desirable. 

Using CTAs in the meta description can be the best way to get visitors to click on your page. You can use words like “shop now”, “learn more” or “click here” to persuade them to take action. 

Let me show you an example.

CTA helps readers understand what the page is going to offer. It can be helpful in selling the product and signing up for a newsletter. 

Mark my words, Use CTA, and see the impressions increasing on your page. 

Add Value Words

Now, the question that might be buzzing in your mind after reading ‘value words’ is, “what is this new term called value words?”

Well, it’s not a new term. 

These are the words that describe the value that you are going to offer and provoke them to click. 

The reader must understand what they are going to get once they read the meta description. 

This is one of the best tactics of how to write meta descriptions. 

You can use words like, “learn”, “see”, “watch”, “deals”, ”popular”,” best”. Such words are categorized as value words. 

Add these words in your meta description and see the results! 

Add Structured Data 

It is not a terrible idea to give the user some additional information about your website and for that, you can use structured data.

structured data meta tags are the HTML tags that you can add to your website to provide some additional information to the viewers. 

One of the most common structured data used by businesses is a business name, address, phone number, email address, and a product description with price points.

Let me show you an example. 

The five-star ratings you are seeing in the image along with meta tags are the results of structured data. 

Structured data provides a signal to the viewer that your page contains something valuable in it.

You can even add the ratings of your business in structured data. Also, it helps you build a powerful meta description that helps in Google ranking as well. 

Include Keywords

It is very important to add keywords to your meta descriptions.

It is mainly because of two reasons.

1. It helps the Google algorithms understand the page.

2. It ensures the users that the page contains the content they are interested in. 

So, add relevant keywords. 

Let me show you an example,

Here is one of my blogs that is ranking on number 1 as I added keywords in my meta description.

You can see the meta description is clearly providing the details of what the blog is all about. 

You can use tools like Ahrefs, and SEMrush to find the better keywords for your content and then add them into the meta description. 

Note: Each page must have different keywords in the meta description and try to avoid keyword stuffing as much as possible. 

A/B Testing Of Meta Descriptions

Now the question that might be buzzing in your mind is, “I understood how to write meta descriptions, but how to test them?”

Well, I also have an answer for that.  

You can experiment with your meta description with keywords, phrases, and CTAs. This is how you can easily determine which tactic will help you generate more clicks. 

Just create 2 meta descriptions for each page and watch the performance. 

You can run each meta description for a week and then check out the performance in Google Analytics to see which meta description is generating more clicks and keep that. 

You may also use that meta description format for your other pages.

Some Do’s and Don’ts 

Do’s 

1. Write 158 characters and no longer than it. As it will not appear on the screen. 

2. Use action-oriented language to get more clicks.

3. Make your meta description specific and relevant.

4. Provide a solution or benefit to create value.

5. Include the relevant keywords. 

Don’ts 

1. Don’t do keyword stuffing or your website will get penalized. 

2. Don’t write duplicate meta descriptions. Each and every page of your website is supposed to have a unique meta description. 

3. Don’t overuse the value words as it may confuse the readers about what value you are going to provide.

Examples Of Meta Description

The blog is not finished yet. 

I have already explained all the tactics to write a good, well-written, and SEO-friendly meta description above. 

Now, Let’s take a look at some of the greatest examples of Meta Description, and trust me when I say you’ll learn something.

The examples I’ll provide you aren’t just examples; they’re practical advice.

Don’t just take my word for it; I’ll explain why these examples are the finest and show you examples to back it up.

So, let’s get started with Examples.

1. Incrementors

This is one of the finest examples because of its target keyword along with actionable. By utilizing the term “proven actionable” in this meta description, it’s claiming to be all the advice actionable.

That’s why it is one of the finest meta descriptions ever written. 

2. Youtube

The reason why this meta description is good is that it is informative and While being short, it conveys a notion of fun and community.

3. Tesla 

In the limit of character, Tesla did its best to convey its message about what the company symbolizes, what it produces, its brand values, and ambitions. What a great example! Isn’t it?

4. Linkedin 

It’s a standard meta description of LinkedIn that it usually uses. Their entire meta description is a CTA( call to action).

5. Uber

What a meta description it is! Uber targets both the audience who are searching for rides and other people who are searching for jobs. Simple and to the point and provides a solution to the problem.

6. Airbnb

See.. the meta description of Airbnb starts with the word ‘unforgettable’. The thing which is special about this word is that it’s an action-oriented verb that can bring lots of clicks. 

7. Lego 

Lego used the keyword as a mini-ad for their website page by using words like, “shop awesome lego building toys”. 

8. Instagram

The reason why I want to show you this example is the way they have provided the full details about their application via meta description. See the image above. 

Bonus Tip

I’d like to offer you a tool that will help you quickly produce meta tags. It’s a tool made by incrementors.

Meta Tags Generator

You can easily find the guide below on that page. 

The reason why I created this tool is that sometimes it can be a bit difficult to understand how to optimize your meta tags for SEO.

You can avail of this tool via my website free of cost.

Conclusion

So, it was some tricks and tactics to write a meta description for blogs that will help you generate more and more clicks! 

However, it is not easy to create an SEO-friendly meta description as you need to keep some points in your mind that I have already mentioned above. 

The reason why meta description holds so much importance in SEO is that it can provoke the user to click on your page.

However, if your website is struggling with low leads, low traffic, and low clicks, then you may contact incrementors. 

It can provide you better solutions for your website, or you can watch this 30 Minute Strategy Session on my website.

FAQs

Question.1 What is the coding for meta description?

Well, the coding of meta descriptions is quite easy. 

It is like, <head> <meta name=”description” content=“keep it between 140 and 160 characters so Google can display your entire message. Don’t forget to include your keyword!”></head><br/><br/>

Question.2 Does meta description affect SEO?

The answer is simple: No, they don’t technically impact SEO. Meta descriptions affect organic click-through rate (CTR), which is an important metric

Question.3 What happens if your meta description is too long?

There’s no penalty for a meta description that’s too long, but can sometimes be a lost opportunity. Search engines will typically only show the first 920 pixels characters of a meta description.

Question.4 Should I use meta description for the privacy policy?

It is not necessarily useful to add a meta description for a privacy policy page. The privacy policy page is not supposed to get more clicks but still, if you want to add a meta description to that page, you can. 

Question. 5 Is there any update for meta description via Google for the year 2022?

You can use the same tactics as you were using before. There is no update from Google for meta descriptions.