Thoughts on meta descriptions - best click through rates
-
Hi All,
I recently heard a tip from a prominent SEO'r that meta tags should be custom written by professional copywriters. Well, I want to head down that path.
What are your thoughts on these two options:
Buy the top-selling <xyz product="">. 20 year warranty, 30 day money guarantee + free, fast shipping! Includes <1-2 features or included accessories of product></xyz>
or
Buy our top-rated <xyz product="">today</xyz> & save! Over 20 5-star rated reviews + free, fast shipping! Includes <1-2 features or included accessories of product>
Would you focus on the warranty, reviews, product accessories, money back guarantee, free shipping over a certain cutoff, customer service (which we have a toll free number for) or another factor? Are there any good articles out there outlining this? Do you think the way I've structured it is good/readable? What about the use of '+' instead of '&'?
Is the cutoff limit still 156 chars?
Any thoughts/views/ideas are most appreciated! Thanks
-
Hi Daniel,
We eventually went with:
With rave reviews and 20 year warranty, Swiss-made Bamix blenders are the very best. Buy today and enjoy personal service, free shipping and money back guarantee!
This way it illustrates why you should choose that product and why you should shop with us, plus a call to action in the sense of "Buy now..."
Thanks
-
Specific model name or number for blender is not important in the page description. But it might t well be used in the page title. And I always try to write different descriptions for each page -- even if it's just a minor variation. For titles, of course, it's crucial there be no duplication.
-
Yep - I like that one. Only question is, do you think it matters that the individual product name is not in the meta tag? I.e. the example you just gave would then be the same for all Bamix blenders we stock.
Thanks again!
-
You're definitely on the right track. A few comments:
- As a consumer, I'm not sure I care the blender is preferred by chefs. Could actually be a turn off: it's more blender than I need for home use. I'd prefer a cheaper one. So, no thanks.
-I also don't care that this blender is the most popular. The issue is whether it's right for me.
Maybe something like:
With rave reviews and a 20 year warranty, Swiss-made Bamix blenders are the very best. So is our personal service. We include free shipping and a money back guarantee!
-
Awesome responses guys, thanks!
Daniel - if I am talking about a 'Bamix Classic Blender 140W' for instance, with the following features/attributes:
- 36% off RRP
- Includes chopping blade and bench stand
- 20 year warranty
- Made in Switzerland
- 23 reviews for this product, 20 of them being 5 star (other 3 were 4 star)
As well as our standard 'across the site' features:
- Free shipping over $100 (this product is over $100)
- 30 day money back guarantee
- Best customer service in the industry (yes, we do actually have the best service and dont just claim to)
Could I use something like:
- Bamix Blenders are the best in the world. Swiss-made with a 20 year warranty, find out why the Bamix Classic Blender 140W is preferred by professional chefs
- Made in Switzerland for 55 years, Bamix blenders are the best in the world. With a 20yr warranty, find out why the Bamix Classic Blender 140W is so popular!
- Swiss-made Bamix blenders are built to last. With rave reviews, a 20yr warranty and free shipping, find out why they are our most popular blenders!
Or do you have any other ideas?
Once again, thanks guys. Really appreciate it!
-
I agree. With that in mind, I'd rewrite as:
**Anytown Fitness | Anytown, NY Gym and Fitness | Boot Camp **
Get you in the best shape of your life, no matter who you are. **Anytown Fitness: **Caring, supportive environment, rave reviews. Try us!
and if there was a $59 a month special, I might hold off on that info.
**Anytown Fitness | Anytown, NY Gym and Fitness | Boot Camp **
Get you in the best shape of your life, no matter who you are. Anytown Fitness: great staff who care about you. Just $59 per month. Find out why we get rave reviews.
-
I personally like the 'Find out why' bit, adds a bit of intrigue and makes me want to click through.
Not sure if its just me but when I scan through the SERPs I generally only read the first sentence or less of the description. With this in mind I would want to put my best statements first to ensure I grasp the audience and lue them in without them reading the whole description.
-
Both of your examples could be greatly improved. Way too many numbers. And you're trying too hard to cram too much stuff in. You need more focus. Far too many page descriptions read like transcripts of cheesy used car commercials.
You have to consider how page descriptions look -- and work -- in conjunction with page titles. Words in the page title that are repeated in the page description are bolded.
I generally hand craft page descriptions for each page that make my client stand out from the competition.
My first draft might look something like this.
Example 1
**Anytown Fitness | Anytown, NY Gym and Fitness | Boot Camp **
**A****nytown Fitness **will get you in the best shape of your life, no matter who you are. Caring, supportive environment, rave reviews. Try us!
Example 2
Widget People | Custom Widgets and Doodads | Googas Save up to 70% when our certified widget makers lovingly handcraft yourdoodads & googas. Family- run company, rave reviews. Find out why.
I'd then throw the descriptions into a character counter and refine. In Example 2, I might eliminate "Find Out Why" and sub "great service" to make the final phrase: "Family run company, great service, rave reviews."
Of course, I would never talk about rave reviews unless we had the Yelp and Google and other reviews to support the claim.
And I'd only use the & if I was short of space. I'd use + only in something like 500+ widget styles.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Do the clickable images on pages are bad that they will increase bounce rate and distract users?
Hi Moz community, I'm trying to get some helpful answers on this. We are planning to employ clickable images on our website pages which opens in new tab if users click on them. This is to make sure that they can see the large screenshots of our product. I wonder will this increase the bounce rate and drop the rankings. Please share your experience and guidance on this. Thanks
Conversion Rate Optimization | | vtmoz0 -
Will Landing Page Design with Large Areas of White Background Enjoy a Higher Conversion Rate?
My designer has created a landing page with a dark background. Text is white and other colors. Does a dark background impact the conversion rate? Is it better to have a white background? I am concerned that a dark background may distract visitors. The landing page is: http://www.nyc-officespace-leader.com/MidtownLawOfficeSublet3300SFBelowMarket We plan on using this landing page for LinkedIn advertising. Thanks!!
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Kingalan10 -
Meta Descriptions - Does Cutt's comment still hold true?
When looking through my old research on Meta's came across this article on Search Engine Land where Matt Cutt's stated... "In fact, Matt said for his own blog, he doesn’t bother to make meta descriptions for his own site. In short, it is better to let Google auto-create snippets for your pages versus having duplicate meta descriptions."(http://searchengineland.com/googles-matt-cutts-dont-duplicate-your-meta-descriptions-177706) Recently, I have seen Google continuously play around with my metas, pulling from some really weird places on the page, discrediting the meta that I have there..and more-or-less really f them up.. Does the community think that maybe what Matt said in 2013 still holds weight and we are just wasting time with metas since Google does what they want in that space anyways?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | GoAbroadKP2 -
Question about conversion rate in ppc
Hi guys, Im managing the campaigns in the company that im working and so far i think that the results are o.k more or less. The problem is how can i really know if it is o.k ?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | WayneRooney
I really don’t have any data to compare to… For example, this is campaign from the insurance niche from the uk : Clicks – 132
Impr – 6,958
CTR- 1.90%
Conversion – 20 (Not inducing the one that calls the office)
Conversion rate – 16%
Total cost – 704£ How can i know by these number that the campaign is working ? Same here (T-shirts campaign for the Spanish market): Clicks – 1,219
Impr – 26,177
CTR- 4.66%
Conversion – 56
Conversion rate – 4.5%
Total cost – 493€ Probably you will say, check how much you spend and how much you got back ?
This is also a problem for me. I can see the numbers of the conversion but because we are not eCommerce so i cant really know the total income. Do you know if there’s is a way that each for quote that coming to our system
so i will know where it came from ? Like a comment in the url or something ? I think that 90% of our income/quotes comes from the organic as we are ranking very high in Google so its a bit mixed in the system. Any feedback or tips here on this will be very welcome…0 -
Best Shopping Cart Recovery Service?
With GA's Real Time view of visitors to our Web store I see how many are "shopping" at our site. It's a bit frustrating to watch and then NOT get very many orders. I am wondering about the value of shopping cart recovery services and which one is the best. I would also like to know what the best ecommerce converting sites are.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | lbohen0 -
Bounce Rates Impact on SEO?
What impact does bounce rate have on a websites rankings? What is an ideal bounce rate percentage to shoot for? What is the best way to reduce bounce rate on a site?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | bronxpad0 -
Can fun, slightly unprofessional text be good for conversion rates?
I operate on a freemium model. The three plans are currently called "Free", "Gold" and "Platinum". Besides being incredibly square and boring, these titles are also meaningless. I'm doing a slight redesign of my site, and the new (unreleased) site has a very fun, playful feel. I'm also trying to make everything more streamlined and obvious. I'm considering renaming the three plans "Boring Amateur", "Kick-Ass Amateur" and "Bona Fide Professional" on the registration page and simply "Boring", "Kick-Ass" and "Professional" elsewhere. There are lots of places on the site where I have to refer to "amateurs" vs "professionals" - these tags would make that easier to explain. Easier = more sales. What do you think about using unprofessional text like this? Is it too risky, possibly offending too many people and losing sales? Or is it a good eye-catcher? I know the best answer is "test it." But this is one of those changes that I don't want to have to put my users through too many times. Thanks for any thoughts!
Conversion Rate Optimization | | PatrickGriffith0 -
Can Changing Meta Descriptions Negatively Impact SERP's?
I have just had a page start ranking well in key SERP's and I would like to change the meta description and add a price as we are extremely competative in that line. Could changing the meta description now a page is ranking negatively impact the SERP placing? Does anyone have any experience with this?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | robertrRSwalters0