How to Write Great Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
By Intrigue
One of the biggest problems businesses’ have today is finding ways to reach the top of Google’s results page. There are a lot of factors to consider when adding SEO, but two things that are typically lacking are good title tags and meta descriptions. In this blog you’ll learn the basics on how to create these two valuable components and boost your SEO.
What is a Title Tag?
A title tag is the title that defines the link of the document and is a very valuable part of a website’s SEO. Title tags are found within in search engine result pages (SERPs). The title of the webpage should give an accurate description of the content that is on that page.
How To Write Great Title Tags
When crafting a title tag, you need to keep character count length in mind. If the character count is too long, it will be cut off by Google. For Google the length is generally between 50-60 characters. Having a longer title tag, within the 50-60 character range, will help boost your SEO value.
Another rule to follow is to add keywords into the beginning of the title tag. This will help boost your ranking and will makes users more likely to click your link.
The last thing to take in consideration is to add a geographic location at the end of the tag. This will also help your SEO and provide additional clarity for the searcher.
Here is an example of what your title tag should look like:
Primary keyword – Secondary keyword | Location
What is a Meta Description?
A meta description is the last call of action you have to attract your customers. The meta description is a snippet of the information that is located below the link. The meta description gives the user a small description of what the link contains. Its main purpose is to persuade the user to click through to your site. The meta description acts as a sales call to the searcher. Having a meta description is a great way to boost your profile on SERPs and also help your SEO ranking.
How To Write Great Meta Descriptions
The meta description needs to be less than 155 characters — Google will cut off the meta descriptions if it exceeds this length. You want to take full advantage of the 155 characters. The more information you can give to the searcher, the more likely they will click through to your site. The information you are providing should be clear and convincing.
You’ll also want to inform the searcher about a benefit or a solution — this will entice them to click through to your site. Adding keywords are valuable in creating a meta description, and the keywords should relate to the link. This will catch the searchers eye and also boost or SEO.
As with the title tage, the final step with your meta description is to add in a geographic location. This will help the searcher know where you are located and will also boost your SEO.
Example of meta description:
Contact the team at Intrigue today and see how we can help you boost your SEO and drive more customers to your site.
Hallo Ryan, Thank you for sharing this post, which I found really helpful.
What about numbers in the title. Is it Okay to use them?
Hey Yoanna, that’s a great question! I’ll jump in and answer for Ryan here — it is totally fine to use numbers in the title, but unless they’re part of a keyword phrase they won’t add to SEO value. Let me know if that makes sense or if you have any more questions 🙂
Great post Ryan! 🙂
Writing effective title tags and meta descriptions using SEO best practices is crucial when trying to improve your search ranking.