Whether you’re writing your own meta tags or not, there are some tips you can follow to help make the most out of the characters you have available to display. Follow our simple guide to getting meta tags right by treating them like any other piece of copywriting for your website.
What Is a Meta Tag?
When you use a search engine, websites associated with the keyword terms appear in a list. These are in the form of a large header (which links to the web page) with a smaller text description underneath. They summarise the page you’re about to click on and are known as a ‘meta tag’. They consist of a title tag (the header) and meta description (the paragraph below). Your title and description should always relate to the subject of your page; otherwise Google may choose to display its automated version instead, which will be taken from the words on your web page.
Lengths & Wording
Google and other search engines often change how much text is displayed. Therefore, an SEO professional can advise about the optimum character lengths to use.
While you can include a few tactics to enhance your SEO efforts, i.e. push your site up the search rankings, writing compelling copy for your target customers is going to be what makes potential clients choose your site when it appears in their search results.
How to Write a Title Tag
For SEO – The most effective method is to place your main keyword at the start of the title so that Google understands its importance.
For conversions – What’s going to encourage a user to click through to your site may differ depending on the type of page you’re writing the title tag for.
For your main website pages, you may want to entice customers by stating the service or product clearly, but also providing a key benefit or two. These should grab the attention of users and encourage them to click on your pages over your competitors. For example, this could be something like ‘Window Cleaner Reading – weekend services & competitive prices.’
With a blog post, it’s not always the best idea to use the exact title of the blog. For example, if your blog topic was ‘How to Lose Weight Quickly,’ your title could be ‘Best Weight Loss Guides – Simple Meals & Exercises for Fast Results.’ Do you see the difference? It shows you’re an authority on the subject area (‘Best Weight Loss Guides’), while providing more information to encourage a click.
What to Include in a Meta Description
While it’s great if you can fit in some more keywords and locations you want to target naturally into the wording of your description, it’s important to use the extended character length to let readers know more about the content of the page. You can increase click-through rates by adding punchy benefits into the paragraph, enticing users to explore further. You can also end the description on a call to action, such as ‘Download your free brochure now!’, as you would for anything else requiring persuasive copy.
If you’d like to improve your meta tags or implement a better SEO campaign for your site, get in touch with JJ Solutions. We offer a broad range of services to help you achieve online success.
Call now on 020 3871 8773 to find out more.
