Pages that rank high in Google search results
Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2024 7:21 am
Setting a unique meta description is supposed to influence user behavior and improve the click-to-view ratio of a page in the results. The most logical solution is to set attractive descriptions where they can bring the fastest results, i.e. on pages that are high in the results list and are already generating traffic.
Pages with little content
An automatically generated description based on the content on a given page makes more sense when it is extensive and of high quality. Descriptions for pages with little content can often be incomprehensible to users, which increases the chance that they will choose another offer from the list. The description may only include headers taken from the content of the page or even elements from the footer, such as contact details or information about the use of cookies.
Home Page Description
The most important page operating within the service should definitely have an attractive meta description set up, which will be displayed, among others, when someone shares our page on social media.
Offer/Category Pages
Category and offer pages generate valuable traffic for us, which is why we try to do everything we can to make them as high as possible in organic search results and stand out from other, competitive offers. One of the elements that can tip the scales in our favor is an attractive meta description.
Product pages
A potential customer looking for a specific product may come across a dozen or so stores that will offer it to them. To increase the chance of using our offer, we should prepare unique meta descriptions that will distinguish not only the product, but also the store and indicate its advantages. In the case of a large number of products, we can try to db to data for trusted database source company automate the process of creating descriptions - for example, exporting data from the Screaming Frog tool and exporting the product list from the store's administration panel, which we will import to a spreadsheet, may be useful. To prepare a meta description of the product, its name or the main category to which it belongs, will be useful.
How to write a good meta description?
There is no perfect, universal meta description template that can be applied to all websites. The meta description varies depending on the industry, type of page, and search intent. However, there are simple rules that are worth following when preparing an attractive description:
remember about the appropriate length of the meta description,
include important keywords and remember to be specific,
match the description to the search intent and make it unique,
remember about call to action,
use power words,
use emojis/HTML symbols.
1. Length of meta descriptions
The length of the meta description tag itself has no limits, and we can find many examples online where its content significantly exceeds the recommended number of characters. The allowable width of the description is set by search engines, and it is our task to adjust the descriptions so that they are displayed in their entirety. However, setting a meta description that is too long is not a mistake, and if such a situation occurs, the search engine simply will not display the text in its entirety.
The length of the description displayed in Google search has changed with subsequent tests aimed at determining the optimal solution. In 2017, Google displayed descriptions in their entirety, which were up to 320 characters long. However, this idea was quickly abandoned.
Google meta description length
Google meta description length
The current maximum length of the displayed meta description in Google search is about 155 characters, while in the case of Bing, up to 160 characters are allowed for the description to be displayed in its entirety. The length of the page description expressed in characters is not very precise, because individual characters can have different widths and take up more space, which is why the width of the page description expressed in pixels is taken into account.
In the case of Google, the maximum width on desktop devices is 980 px, and on mobile devices it is 680 px, which is about 120 characters. By creating a description that is ~980 px long, there is a risk that it will not be displayed in its entirety on mobile devices.
Pages with little content
An automatically generated description based on the content on a given page makes more sense when it is extensive and of high quality. Descriptions for pages with little content can often be incomprehensible to users, which increases the chance that they will choose another offer from the list. The description may only include headers taken from the content of the page or even elements from the footer, such as contact details or information about the use of cookies.
Home Page Description
The most important page operating within the service should definitely have an attractive meta description set up, which will be displayed, among others, when someone shares our page on social media.
Offer/Category Pages
Category and offer pages generate valuable traffic for us, which is why we try to do everything we can to make them as high as possible in organic search results and stand out from other, competitive offers. One of the elements that can tip the scales in our favor is an attractive meta description.
Product pages
A potential customer looking for a specific product may come across a dozen or so stores that will offer it to them. To increase the chance of using our offer, we should prepare unique meta descriptions that will distinguish not only the product, but also the store and indicate its advantages. In the case of a large number of products, we can try to db to data for trusted database source company automate the process of creating descriptions - for example, exporting data from the Screaming Frog tool and exporting the product list from the store's administration panel, which we will import to a spreadsheet, may be useful. To prepare a meta description of the product, its name or the main category to which it belongs, will be useful.
How to write a good meta description?
There is no perfect, universal meta description template that can be applied to all websites. The meta description varies depending on the industry, type of page, and search intent. However, there are simple rules that are worth following when preparing an attractive description:
remember about the appropriate length of the meta description,
include important keywords and remember to be specific,
match the description to the search intent and make it unique,
remember about call to action,
use power words,
use emojis/HTML symbols.
1. Length of meta descriptions
The length of the meta description tag itself has no limits, and we can find many examples online where its content significantly exceeds the recommended number of characters. The allowable width of the description is set by search engines, and it is our task to adjust the descriptions so that they are displayed in their entirety. However, setting a meta description that is too long is not a mistake, and if such a situation occurs, the search engine simply will not display the text in its entirety.
The length of the description displayed in Google search has changed with subsequent tests aimed at determining the optimal solution. In 2017, Google displayed descriptions in their entirety, which were up to 320 characters long. However, this idea was quickly abandoned.
Google meta description length
Google meta description length
The current maximum length of the displayed meta description in Google search is about 155 characters, while in the case of Bing, up to 160 characters are allowed for the description to be displayed in its entirety. The length of the page description expressed in characters is not very precise, because individual characters can have different widths and take up more space, which is why the width of the page description expressed in pixels is taken into account.
In the case of Google, the maximum width on desktop devices is 980 px, and on mobile devices it is 680 px, which is about 120 characters. By creating a description that is ~980 px long, there is a risk that it will not be displayed in its entirety on mobile devices.