Let’s forget about search engine optimization (SEO) for a moment and think about click-through rates (CTR). Even so as SEO has been at the centre of every online marketing discussion, making it look like your CTR has zero impact on your overall marketing strategy.
People overlook their CTRs, and it’s mostly because they’ve been lulled into believing their SEO metrics is all that matters.
Imagine a scenario when your website appears in the first three search results, but it’s still NOT getting enough clicks compared to a poorly ranked site it’s competing with.
Your SEO results are impressive, yes. But your CTR is just not good enough. And that’s the trump card your competitor has all along been pulling on you.
About your poor CTR, you have your title tags and Meta Descriptions to blame for this. Come to think of it, doing nothing to entice web searchers into clicking on your SERP link to your website defeats the very purpose of being involved with SEO in the first place.
A scenario to Imagine
You’re a renowned web developer in your local area who’s invested much in terms of SEO. A web user heads to Google and searches for “a web developer near me.” Several results show and the user has to go through all of them to make a pick.
So they scan through the snippets, reading through the Meta Descriptions until they come across one that strikes out and is most relevant to what they’re searching for. Bingo! Deal closed.
If the person needs to make inquiries and has had some bad experiences, you could easily capture their interest by making sure you’ve included “free consultation” in your meta-description.
They might also consider clicking on the link because they’re sure you’ll be there to address some of their concerns without charging them for it.
So while title tags offer the opportunity to capture the attention of potential visitors, Meta Descriptions allow you to lure them in with offers and anything else you ascertain piques their interest to the core.
What’s a Meta description?
In technical terms, meta descriptions are the HTML attributes that provide a concise explanation of what a web page is all about. For the non-techies, meta descriptions are the couple of sentences that pop in the list of search results shown every time you Google up for something.
It’s usually placed beneath the blue hyperlinked title, in the smallest font and in black.
Basically, it’s what helps a searcher decide on the web link to click. It’s what convinces them that the link leads to what they’re looking for.
And if there are keywords in the meta description that match the search term queried into the search bar by a Google user, the search results will have them bolded.
What are Meta Descriptions Important?
Every web owner hoping to drive a decent amount of traffic to their website needs a diligently crafted meta description for every web page or blog post they prepare.
And here are the possible reasons:
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To Improve their Click-Through Rate
Your number of clicks drop the further you move down the search engine result pages. Which is to say, the further down you are on the ranking ladder, the more you’ll be required to put in more effort while working on your meta descriptions.
Another way of saying you have no option but to make your meta description catchy, detailed and relevant to what a potential visitor happens to be searching for.
So ultimately, nicely written and well-calculated meta descriptions are essential in improving your Click Through Rates.
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Attract the Right Kind of Visitors
When someone uses an advanced search, Google uses meta descriptions to come up with the results the user wants. That works to ensure the user is connected to the most relevant web pages. But read this bearing in mind that meta descriptions don’t directly influence your normal ranking.
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Meta description for social media traffic
Social media sites including Facebook display the meta description of your web page every time someone shares your content on social media. When found missing, the site will pick the first couple of texts of your content and use them instead.
So if you’re hoping to attract your online customers, then it’s important that you learn to make your meta description enticing enough for your social media followers to click through.
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Good for Promoting your Content
Your meta description won’t affect your Google ranking, but a well-crafted one will certainly increase your CTR. All you have to do is find a way to make it interesting enough and more and more people will be attracted enough to click through.
Tips for Writing a Meta Description with a high Click-Through Rate
Here are a number of rules to apply while drafting interesting meta descriptions for your website.
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Make it unique for every page or Blog post
Every page or blog post you have is unique in its own way, it bears repeating. Make it appear so by customising your meta description, instead of coming up with a boilerplate of a meta description.
Use the content you have to come up with something that’s not only informative, but interesting enough to arouse some curiosity about what’s on the other end.
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Observe Character Length
Google increased the number of characters that appear on SERPs from 160 to 320, only to shortly after shorten it back to 160. So you only have a character limit of 160 to draft a catchy message for potential visitors. Make good use of it by being super creative and witty.
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Naturally Integrate Targeted Keywords
The words used on search engines to deliver the results shown will be bolded in each snippet on the list.
This is important as it helps the searcher quickly spot relevant results. By naturally integrating keywords into your meta description, you’ll be making a bold stand to strike out and get the searcher even more interested in checking out what you have to offer on your site.
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Put Emphasis on the Value of What You’re Offering
There’s no wrong in using your meta description section to pitch. Don’t let anyone talk you out of self-promoting yourself. So long as you’re NOT overdoing it, and witty enough NOT to come off as desperate, you can get more people interested in checking out what’s on the other side by crafting a captivating sales pitch to potential visitors.
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Action-oriented Call To Action
What do you want online readers to do after reading through your snippet? Want them to read more, discover, make a purchase or discover something?
Well, use your meta description to make it known.
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Use Schema Markup Where Appropriate
Schema markup is the additional content that appears beneath your meta description. They’re meant to provide additional information about your product, service or content, including price, calorie count, weight, battery life, word count and so forth.
Use scheme markup anywhere you feel visitors will find the extra information useful. You can use it your blog posts and web pages, provided there’s a need for it.
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You need meta descriptions to direct online visitors to your web content. While SEO will be working to expose your site to them, you need something that lures them in. And what better option do you have than a catchy, nicely written meta description?
To increase your chances of driving even more traffic through SEO and CTR, consider contacting MediaOne for further clarification and free consultation.
