Remember the days when you’d go to the library and spend hours browsing book titles? Trying to find one that sounded like you’d enjoy reading? Today, you’re more than likely doing it on Amazon. But, the point is, those book titles and little synopses you’d read, that’s the equivalent of title tags and meta descriptions
Remember the days when you’d go to the library and spend hours browsing book titles?
Trying to find one that sounded like you’d enjoy reading?
Today, you’re more than likely doing it on Amazon.
But, the point is, those book titles and little synopses you’d read, that’s the equivalent of title tags and meta descriptions for your website.
Title tag optimisation and writing engaging meta descriptions are a huge part not just of ranking website pages, but getting people to click through to your website so they can buy from you.
The more relevant and interesting they are, the more clicks you’ll get, the more leads you’ll get to your website.
The more generic they are, the bigger the chance of you being left on the shelf and ignored.
You know when you see a list of websites in SERPs and you see the blue clickable link?
That’s your title tag.
The little blurb underneath, trying to entice you to click the link above?
That’s the meta description.
You can see an example of this below (yes, I know the links are purple, not blue, here. But that’s because I’ve clicked on them before taking the screenshot)
From an SEO perspective, title tag optimisation is important because title tags are what Google uses to figure out which pages are relevant to a search, so it knows what to show.
You can see in the example above, the user has searched “Amazon SEO Agency” and the top 3 results have delivered pages for agencies offering Amazon SEO services (hey look, there’s us).
While title tags matter for SEO, meta descriptions don’t necessarily.
We’d still recommend using a keyword in your meta description, though it’s widely agreed that meta descriptions aren’t a ranking factor for search engines.
But.
They are important for convincing users to click through to your site.
You need to use more sales or conversion-focused copy for meta descriptions.
This is your elevator pitch to users that your website is the one they should click on.
It’s worth saying at this point that Google has been known to fill in your meta description for you based on what it thinks is most relevant. It can do this more than 60% of the time according to some studies.
But we’d still recommend writing your own.
Remember the saying, “you only get one chance to make a good first impression”?
Well, that’s very true for SERPs.
Your title tags and meta descriptions are the first, and potentially only, chance you have to make an impression on a potential customer, so you need to make the most of it.
Think of it like speed dating, but instead of a few minutes to introduce yourself, you have a few seconds.
If your title tag matches what someone was expecting to find with their search, and you make a compelling argument with your meta description, you have a much higher chance of earning a click out of your search impression.
Don’t believe me?
How about what Google says about writing meta descriptions, describing them as, “a pitch to convince a user that your page is exactly what they need”.
Your website’s CTR is just the percentage of people who click through to your website after seeing it in SERPs.
Say 100 people see your page in SERPs, and 10 people click. You have a CTR of 10%.
CTR is one of the metrics you should pay attention to when looking at your SEO performance, because this shows how many actual visitors you’re getting from search (not just the amount of times you show up).
Optimising tags can increase CTR because they’re a clear signal to users that your website has the thing they’re looking for.
Let’s say you’re looking for a dog walker. So you type dog walker near me in search.
You’re met with a result that clearly shows a website for a dog walker, who describes their years of experience and even has their starting price in the meta description.
You’re probably going to click through, right?
Now imagine you see a search result for someone who’s vague about whether they offer the right service, give no idea about their experience, or price, or what areas they cover.
Are you going to bother clicking when there are clearer choices to click on?
Probably not.
This is why optimising title tags and meta descriptions is important for improving CTRs.
Now, Google’s SEO guidelines have never explicitly confirmed or denied that CTR is a direct ranking factor in SERPs.
But, user behaviour is known to play a part in what pages get ranked above others.
If your page has a higher CTR, and searchers stick around reading your content, it’s a signal to Google that you’re a reliable source of information (and you could have a chance of ranking higher).
Your title tag is like a newspaper headline.
It’s surrounded by other websites all saying essentially the same thing.
So it needs to stand out.
It needs to grab attention and get your customers interested.
Here’s a couple of SEO title best practices you can do to help your cause:
Your title tag should be around 50-60 characters so it displays properly and Google doesn’t cut it off.
Remember. Google uses your title tag to understand what your page is about, so you need to include your keyword for Google to latch onto. But, be careful not to just spam your title tag with keywords.
It can be tempting to try and be clever to stand out with your title tag. But it’s way more important to be clear so searchers know what they’re getting by coming to your website.
Your meta description has one job. Convince people to click through to your website. This is your chance to show off the benefits of working with you and show that you’re the right choice.
Here’s a couple of things you can do to improve your meta descriptions.
Customers only really care about what’s in it for them to click through to your site. So give them the clear benefits they can expect by coming to your business.
There’s nothing worse than being cut off before you’ve got to the punch line. Keep your meta descriptions at or below 160 characters so Google doesn’t cut them off.
Remember, your meta description is your sales pitch to readers to click through to your website.
So have a call to action and be clear what you want readers to do.
Whether that’s click for more info or click to get something for free.
Search intent is massive in SEO.
If a reader is looking for information on a subject, you shouldn’t have a meta description pitching a product, for example.
We can’t tell you how often we see duplicated meta descriptions across pages.
Sometimes it’s just that you’ve duplicated a page and forgot to change the descriptions.
But every page should have it’s own meta description.
Title tags and meta descriptions are a fundamental part of any SEO for businesses.
They can also be a quick win by making sure the basic SEO elements of a page are taken care of.
If you’re thinking about how to do these tags properly, just think like a customer.
What would make you click on a website?
You could even review existing SERP results for some inspiration and also see how you can improve your titles and tags compared to what competitors are already doing.
Remember, the job of your title tags and meta descriptions is to call out to customers that your website is the best place for them to go.
Whether you have a better service, a better price or more experience, whatever it is, these tags are your chance to stand out in SERPs and attract more customers to your website.
We’ve got a tonne of content on how you can improve your website’s SEO.
From understanding search intent, to blogging for businesses to how to do keyword research.
You can find a lot of information in our blog.
But, if you’re looking for help with professional seo services then feel free to get in touch, let’s grab a coffee and see how we can help.
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