What is a meta description?
A meta description is a small bit of text that appears on the search result in a search engine, It’s normally around 160 characters but it can be more or less. It’s normally used to summerise the content on the page. Search engines look in meta descriptions for key phrases and words to find the best result for the search. It’s important to manually write your own meta description so that you can increase the click-through rate and get more views on your site.
How do I add a meta descrption on WordPress?
There are a few ways of doing this but the easiest way is by downloading the Yoast SEO plugin. It’s free (there is a paid version which has many benefits but it’s not required) and very easy to use. Once you have that downloaded and activated, just go to the page or post that you want to add a meta description and scroll down. You will something similar to the image below, just click on the meta description area then you will be able to write your own.
How to write a good meta description in WordPress
Writing a meta description isn’t always enough to get good results. Luckily Yoast helps you write a good one! It analysis your keywords, length, type of sentence and tells you if its a good one. Here’s a break down of everything you need to do.
Keep it around 160 characters long.
Although you can’t fully control what Google shows, having a meta description this length allows you to fit in the key phrases you need. In some cases, a longer one might be better for the click-through rate (CTR). If you have a sentence that cuts off, it might make people want to finish the sentence by clicking on the website. But this might not always work. Keep it short, try and provide as much value as possible and just think “would this make me click on the site?”.
Make a description that people will click on
Don’t make a description that sounds too much like a sales pitch. You need to entice the people to click on it, not get sold to! Make sure the description perfectly describes what you are doing but at a personal level. The meta description below shows a great enticing meta description that is perfect for people looking for the best phone of 2020.
With its stunning design, immaculate fit and finish, super powerful internal hardware and top-rate camera system, the Apple iPhone 11 is the best phone in the …
https://www.t3.com/features/best-smartphone
Add your targetted keyword or phrase
Yoast will automatically analyse your meta description to see if you have written enough, added your key phrase and if the sentence makes sense. Make sure you have your keyphrase in there, near the beginning of the sentence to get the most benefits.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading this quick post. If you have any questions please feel free to get in touch. You can find more useful information on our blog by clicking here. Some interesting posts that you might find useful are: