Using the Description meta tag, you can create a description of a web page that will be accessible to both the user and the search robot. The use of well-formed Description tags is an effective tool for increasing the visibility of a site, increasing the CTR in search and increasing traffic.
Why do I need to fill in the meta tag Description
This meta tag should contain the most important and key information about the page – its brief description. Using the Description tag is not a prerequisite when filling the site with content.
If there are no additional information about the page in the meta tags, the search system will generate the description text itself in response to the user’s request (for information requests, this often happens with Description too).
Using meta tags allows you to independently define keywords and text, which will be a description of a site’s page. This expands the possibilities when optimizing the site – you can cover more key phrases that are promising from the point of view of promotion.
The Description tag also provides an opportunity to form a relevant, selling and user-friendly snippet in the search results.
Role Description for SEO
A meta description of the page is an easy way to cover more key phrases. With the help of meta tags and content, you can create a semantic profile for each page using the requested user requests in this topic and distributing them between the Description tags of the entire site. Thus, you can expand the total number of keywords of a web resource, cover more semantics and increase visibility.
The content of the page often contains keywords, for example, in the description of products and services, in articles or reviews. However, these phrases are often low-frequency, and some popular and targeted queries can be missed.
The advantage of using the Description tag is that the specialist himself adds to it the key phrases that are most promising from the point of view of promotion.
At the stage of scanning the page, the search robot in the <head> block detects meta tags, and the visibility of the site by the corresponding user requests increases.
The process of filling Description usually occurs through the appropriate input fields in the admin panel of the site. Certain CMS contain meta tag options in the page settings. This opportunity is also provided by SEO plugins. The registered and saved meta tags appear in the <head> block of the page and, after the next indexation, begin to perform their function.
The role of the Description in the formation of a snippet
The use of key phrases in the description is not only a promotion tool that allows you to increase the visibility of the site by targeted queries, but also a way to determine what the user will see in the search results.
After entering the query in the search engine, a list of snippets of sites appears, each of which corresponds to a specific structure. Typically, this is the title of the page, a link and a brief description of its contents.
If the Description meta tag is empty, the search engine will generate the description itself. Since the description of the page allows a relatively large number of characters, then, in addition to the bold keywords, it is possible to see in it fragments of content that have little to do with the user’s request.
The task of the SEO specialist is to effectively use the allocated amount of the Description tag and to determine priority information for the description in the snippet. Thus, it is possible to make the near-reference environment in organic search commercially attractive and to increase the CTR of the site.
How to make a page description
Relevance page
Meta tags should first of all match the page content. In the Description tag, you should use those keywords that will make it clear to the user that he has found what he was looking for and will meet his expectations when he goes to the site.
SEO performance
In the Description, you can include key phrases that do not fit in the Title tag or the H1 title. In the description it is advisable to use RF and MF requests, placing them at the beginning of the tag. Do not duplicate one key. It is better to pay attention to the “tail” of the description – information about competitive advantages, add a call to action (CTA).
No repetition
As in the case of the Title tag, the meta description of each page of the site must be unique. It is also unacceptable to copy the text Title in Description or vice versa. Meta tags make it possible to make the semantics of the site as wide as possible, and for high-quality internal optimization, their duplication is unacceptable.
Description size
Description is the most voluminous among the meta tags. However, there are certain limits in the number of characters that are worth adhering to.
What should be the size Description
The visible size of the description in the snippet may vary depending on the search engine. The standard Description length for Google is 150–160 characters. Description length in Yandex is usually a little more – 160–170.
The maximum length of the Description tag can be up to 300 characters. As in the case of Title, the words specified in the “tail” descriptions and hidden in the results of the issue, can affect the results of ranking.
Therefore, the Description tag can exceed the recommended length of 160–170 characters. The main thing is to specify the keys at the beginning of the description, placing information in the meta tag from the beginning to the end as it is prioritized.
In general, the recommended length Description allows you to include in the description the most important information: about a product or service, brand, site theme, price, as well as add a call to action or other commercially attractive information.
How to increase the snippet clickability
In addition to observing the basic principles of the formation of Description and adding keywords, there is an additional indicator of optimization efficiency – behavioral factors. It is important not only to achieve the display of the site pages in search results, but also to encourage users to go to your web resource and stay on it.
To increase the CTR of the page, you need to make its description as attractive as possible. Snippet can be compared with a business card or a small ad that should hook. You should not overload the description with keys – 1-2 phrases are enough.
Text Description should be clear, structured, contain information about competitive advantages. It can include a phone number, as well as specify the price of the relevant product. An additional way to influence the CTR snippet will be a call to action, for example: “Buy a cabinet cheaply” or “Order pizza with free delivery”.
Conclusion
Filling Description meta tags is an important step in the internal optimization of the site and an additional way to use keywords when it is promoted in a search.
The recommended length of the Description is 160-170 characters, however, the total size of the description may be within 300 characters, including the visible and hidden parts.
Effective use of Description volume will help to achieve the best results for the site in terms of SEO, as well as the relevance and attractiveness of the page description in the search results.
