Meta Description

Definition: A meta description is a short piece of descriptive text that summarizes the content of an HTML document for search engines. Meta descriptions are part of the meta data of a website and are noted as a meta tag in a website's head section. Google, and other search engines, use the meta description and the Meta Title of a page to create a search Snippet. Meta descriptions have no direct influence on the rankings, however, a good meta description can ensure a better CTR in the SERPs by encouraging more users to click on the result displayed for the particular page.

How meta descriptions work

Meta descriptions are displayed when a user submits a search request and search result snippets are shown. Each result on the search engine result pages includes a URL, clickable title, and description. If a meta description is set in a website's head section, it will be displayed beneath the linked page title. If a meta description is not set, the first lines of the page's text or other available content, e.g. directories, are displayed (cf. NOODP). However, even when a description is saved in the source code, there is no guarantee that the snippet will be used by Google. Google does not necessarily adhere to a stored description. It may also search for suitable content elements on the website for the snippet.

Example of a search snippets containing the target link, meta title and meta description

Meta description length

Meta descriptions should not exceed 160 characters, including spaces. In 2017, the maximum number of characters increased to 320, however, it was reduced again to 160 the following year. 

If meta descriptions exceed the maximal character length, the excess is replaced by "...", i.e. the description is truncated. This has no direct influence on Google's ranking and rating, but the snippet becomes less appealing to users.

Content

The purpose of a meta description is to give users a taste of the content of a page to encourage them to visit said page. To this effect, many meta descriptions use call-to-actions and short keywords to encourage users to click. Others include emojis or other unicodes like checkmarks.

Unicodes are special characters. These have a different effect on the length of the meta description than regular characters. A symbol consists of a large number of characters. In the snippet, however, the number of characters, not the number of symbols resulting from them, serve as the basis for calculating the description length. A Unicode does not extend a description by one character, but by at least five. For the user, the use of symbols may be more appealing, but Google cannot display all of them. Unicodes, therefore, have both advantages and disadvantages for use in meta descriptions.

Meta description best practice

Since the meta description is one of the first elements of a website that users see, website operators should pay careful attention to them.

• Character length: The optimal meta description has a maximum length of 160 characters, including spaces. To be completely certain that the snippet will be displayed in full, it should contain between 150 and 155 characters. For online shops or articles where a publication date is automatically displayed in the snippet, the maximum number of words may decrease .
• Call-to-action: The meta description should contain a prompt for the user. Phrases such as "click here" or "buy now" may help encourage users to click on the snippet.
• Contents: The description should contain the main keyword or keywords used on the landing page. Since Google always highlights the keyword in the snippet with bold, the description becomes more conspicuous when the search term is included. Also possible are short testimonials of satisfied customers, or special characters after unicode in the meta description. They also increase attention. Very popular, for example, are checkmarks.

How to create or edit a meta description

The Meta Description can be saved in a website’s head section. In doing so, the HTML syntax and the search engine criteria should be kept in mind.

An example:

<head><meta name="description" content="The meta description should describe the content of the document."></head>

The attributes ‘name’ and ‘content’ are mandatory. After opening a meta tag, it needs to be closed again.

Meta descriptions can't be directly integrated into the source code of a website but can be easily implemented or edited in most content management systems or with a plugin.

Rich snippets

Rich snippets (also known as rich results) are a special type of snippet that displays additional information such as carousels, pictures, or star ratings. From a user perspective, they are more eye-catching and provide more information about what to expect on a website, meaning they have the potential to increase CTR. 

Rich snippets are created by Google using structured data. To try for a rich snippet, you can add structured data to your website. To do so, first, check whether your page supports rich snippets using the Google Rich Results Test. If the answer is yes, then you can add all kinds of structured data markups that will enhance your site’s appearance on SERPs and draw in more visitors.

For more information on creating rich snippets for your website, check out this rich snippet guide.

Importance to SEO

In the past, meta descriptions were frequently used for keyword stuffing. As a result, Google reacted by changing its algorithms. Since then, meta descriptions no longer influence page rankings. They can, however, influence the click-through rate and traffic of a website, as the short text serves as an indication for users of a website’s content, and they consequently click on the URL if the content appears to be of interest to them. SEOs, therefore, recommend including meta descriptions in onpage optimization. When writing meta descriptions, it is important to ensure that they describe the content properly. It's best practice to create a unique meta description for each web page. Aside from the page title, which actually does impact rankings, the meta description is the first element of a website that a user sees when they use a search engine. Therefore, a good meta description is a chance to make a good first impression before searchers even visit your website.

Web Links

• Meta Tags for SEO, explained | Ryte Magazine
• Meta Description definition
• Snippet Optimizer
• Practical information about meta tags
• Information about meta title and meta descriptions
• How to write the best meta descriptions for SEO