What are description tags? The description tag is an HTML code that gives a short yet basic description of the web page. However, the description tag is at the top of the webpage in the section where the code is. A page’s meta description tag is displayed as part of a search snippet in the search engine results and is meant to give the user an idea of the content that exists within the page & how it is related to the search query. Through this guide, we will be delving into the realm of description tags and how one can work them.
What is a Description Tag?
Description tags are a part of HTML code that gives short information about the content of what is available inside the whole page. By reading the meta description, the user understands the content. Sometimes Google changes the meta description to show in their search engine result page to match with user intent. Meta descriptions appear at the top of the HTML code.
<head>
<meta name=”description” content=”what is description tags? appear like this. This will display in search results. so this is format of it”>
</head>
Now, a question arises: What is this meta description found?
The meta description is located within the <head> section of html, which you can see below the <title> component.
The next point you can think of is: How do Google’s SERPs display meta descriptions?
Your SERP snippet includes the meta description, which is displayed below the clickable title tag and link to the page. In this instance, Google displays the text following the title tags as a meta description tag.
Why Meta Description is Important For SEO?
Meta descriptions do not affect the ranking of the website directly but are still important for SEO purposes.
- It gives snippets that inform search engines about your page. Additionally, make you stand out in the SERP from competitors.
- A compelling snippet increases the number of people who click on your link, boosting brand awareness and your click-through rate (CTR). These are some of the main objectives of most SEO campaigns.
- Additionally, if your meta description has keywords from the query or other extremely relevant text, then Google highlights the words so that users can more easily see the results to find pages that meet their needs. This also helps you to increase the click-through rate.
How Optimization Can Be Done of the Meta Description for SEO?
Meta description is the most important factor of a website, which gives more information about the content to the user, so well-written descriptions help the user in clicking the website link.
It has become crucial to know how to optimize meta descriptions from an SEO point of view.
- Length of the Meta Description
Although Google declares that meta description length is irrelevant, it usually changes meta descriptions that are too long or too short. What kind of device people are using also affects this. Google will change your meta description according to your device’s width. But you need to use at most 150–160 characters as a best practice. In this manner, your description will be open on all the devices, like mobile, tablet, and desktop.
- Different Meta-Description
You need to ensure that the meta description for every page should be unique. Ensuring users find what they are looking for is our main goal. The benefit of meta descriptions is that they allow users to understand what the page or blog is about, even if there are a lot of them. Prioritizing high-traffic pages such as your homepage, blog posts, categories, and frequently visited pages is best practice.
- Call-to-Action Word
At the end, you want your meta descriptions to prompt action from your users. There should definitely be a call-to-action word in your descriptions. In order to engage with your search engine listing, users typically produce enticing content that builds urgency. The optimization of meta descriptions using CTA, like a product listing that encourages you to “shop here” or “read more,” could be examples of appealing content. There are a number of ways to combine call to action with creative content; the only limit is your imagination.
- Talk About the Subject
The webpage’s topic should be covered and summarized in the meta description. Users can expect more with this knowledge.
Note: To get more traffic on your websites, you can also reach out to search engine service providers to expand your online visibility.
What Will Be the Benefits of Meta Description Tags?
- Increase the click-through rate
Increasing a page’s click-through rate through a well-written meta description can help it rank higher in search results and attract more visitors.
- Enhance user experience
With a well-written meta description, the user can make a better decision about the website, whether to click on it or not.
- Amplify Brand Awareness
You can give strength to your brand message and raise brand awareness by using the well-written meta description.
- Improving Search Engine Ranking
Optimizing the meta description with targeted keywords that complement the page’s content can increase the page’s search engine ranking. An increase in ranking on the search engine result pages is one of the main benefits of the meta description tags.
Avoid the Meta Description Common Mistakes
There are a few things that need to be followed while creating a meta description.
- Duplicate Content
The meta description should be unique for each page. Because Google considers only unique meta descriptions, we need to avoid duplicate content.
- Don’t Explain All the Topics on the Same Page
We should not give an explanation about all the topics on a single page. It is better to create different pages for different topics and categorize them accordingly.
- Don’t Write Short Descriptions
Although Google does not consider descriptions as a ranking factor, writing short descriptions is still not helpful. Google does not understand short descriptions, so we need to avoid this meta description mistake.
- Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing will be harmful for your website’s ranking. Because Google considers keyword stuffing a bad SEO practice and, as a result, will not show your webpage in the search engine result page.
- Don’t Copy
We should not copy the descriptions from another website.
- Not Writing the Meta Description
We should not leave the meta description empty.
Read More: What Are Title Tags?
Conclusion
In this article, we have seen that what are meta descriptions? And why meta description is so important from an SEO point of view. We have covered each and every portion of meta description importance. Also, we have provided information about how to optimize these meta descriptions. Moreover, what things you should take care of while writing the meta description are also mentioned. The benefits of using a well-written meta description are also covered in this article.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ques 1. What are description tags?
Ans. The description tag is a text of maximum 155 or 156 characters long which explains what the website is about. In the meantime, Google often shows the description tag, also it is the best way to persuade more people to visit.
Ques 2. What are tags in SEO?
Ans. HTML SEO tags are the bits of code which can be used to describe content to search engines. Also, one can use HTML tags to highlight the importance parts of the copy, to describe the images & even to give out instructions to the search engine bots.
Ques 3. Does tags improve SEO?
Ans. For search engines, meta tags are invaluable. However, the meta tags tend to help search engine understand the structure & content of a web page, which can significantly improve the page’s visibility as well as ranking in search engine result pages.
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