When you search for something online, you get a list of relevant sites to help you with your needs. Meta descriptions are the little synopsis’s that illustrate what the page is about.
You create expectations when you write your Meta descriptions that can generate a positive experience for users. That’s why it’s important to write them a certain way.
What you should NOT do is write the same Meta description for every page on your site or us a plugin to generate them for you. It only takes a minute to write one and it can do wonders for your SEO.
If someone is looking for a wedding photographer and reads a Meta description for your photography business that’s all about you, they won’t be sure if you do weddings. This might make them look at another search result.
How to Write a Meta Description
We’re going to show you a few examples of good and bad Meta descriptions. In the following descriptions, we searched for a specific bank in our area of Scottsdale, Arizona.
The first is what happens when the theme of your site is heavily modified and you didn’t incorporate any tools to add a Meta description; it shows users junk code, essentially.
The next two are a little better. They describe what they are (banks) but you can tell they’re using a plugin to generate the description automatically. When you click the link, you’ll see the Meta description and the first sentence is the same.
While that’s still better than showing code, this isn’t optimal for users. Now, let’s take a look at a good example of proper Meta description usage.
Well, look who it is! In the first line of our Meta description, we specify we’re a local digital marketing agency because that’s what we want to come up for. Now, take a look at the first line of our page.
You see how it’s not the same as our Meta description? If you want to write a good Meta description you just need to understand that people are looking for something specific. Going into different pages and not finding what you want is a terrible experience.
Just be honest about the page’s content when describing it in this section and you’ll be doing right by your visitors.
