Writing the perfect Meta Descriptions
-
I have a lot of Meta Descriptions to write and so this got me thinking, what is the 'perfect' way to write one?
I tend to stick to 165 characters and I now write them with the aim of getting the prospect to 'click through' and visit the intended page, I don't 'keyword stuff' though if I can include a keyword in the flow of the description then I will...
In this example, I need to write a Meta Description for a 'worldwide cruise destination' called Okinawa which is the largest in a group of islands between Japan and Taiwan...
Here is my Meta Description effort;
Okinawa is the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, steeped in history but has developed into a captivating worldwide cruise port with a wonderful and relaxed culture.
How would you rate my effort in a score of 1 - 10?
How would you write it better?
Thanks for your time!
Andy
-
Thanks Mark, I have already (sort of) done that but have yet to establish any results - it might be worth looking into a bit more thoroughly!
Andy
-
What about having a subtle call to action in there?
What you have written is fine, but it might be worth having a play around to see what works best. Maybe get 2 pages with similar performance in search, use one descriptive meta description like you already have and one with a call to action along the lines of "visit our website to find out about...". Then simply see which has the better click through rate.
-
Thanks everyone for your comments, I will take onboard all that has been mentioned!
Andy
-
Match the title to valuable queries. (toss all dead weight overboard)
Match the description to the strongest selling points (what people want to do/see/buy/etc there in this case). Keep in mind that query words in the description will be bolded.
-
It looks just fine, however I'd include the phrase you are optimizing for in your meta description. Reason being simply for the searcher experience. Google bolds the terms in your description so having that phrase there wouldn't hurt (as long as it does not become spammy), it could only improve click through.
-
Hi Andy,
I like to match the page title to prospect's search query as best as possible. So I would use something like this: Okinawa Worldwide Cruises + maybe branding/value proposition (though your example is fine). Here is a good guide: http://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag
Kev
-
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your response - the page is basically just information about that particular cruise port \ destination.
With regard to Page Title (that was to be another post further down the line!), what would you suggest?
At the moment, the majority of Page Titles are something like this; (using Okinawa as the example again)
Okinawa | Worldwide Cruise | Andy Cockayne Cruises
I would imagine that you will be a bit more critical about that example?!
Thanks again
Andy
-
What is the objective of the landing page? Is it to sell a cruise or just information about the destination? If it's just information--not bad at all 9 or 10). If it's to sell a cruise, some refinement will be needed to indicate to the prospect you are selling cruises to this destination.
Are your page titles compelling?
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
-
Page Title & Meta Description Getting Cut Off In The SERPs
Hi Guys, I am trying to figure out why my page titles and meta d tags are getting cut off in Goofle SERPS. My page titles are 70 characters or under (including spaces) and my meta Dd's are 155 characters or under (including spaces) so I cannot work out why They are getting cut off. Is there something I have missed?! Thanks, Meaghan
On-Page Optimization | | StoryScout0 -
Multi channel product descriptions & dupe content issues
Hi When filling in inventory files to upload to the likes of Amazon clients will usually be copying and pasting the product descriptions from the website product descriptions into the Amazon product description field Should they really be re-written to avoid dupe content issues ? I presume not since it is the official description of the product. Please note that i'm talking here about the manufacturers website/product descriptions and their own Amazon shop descriptions. So theirs is the original authoritative description. Cheers Dan
On-Page Optimization | | Dan-Lawrence0 -
How do I manage my organic SEO efforts with multiple product descriptions/specifications???
Good Evening MOZ community I am currently working on a website my company has just launched. I am in charge of the entire commercial side of the business from pricing to brand management including all elements of digital marketing. First of all I should make it clear I am by no means an SEO expert. However I appreciate the importance of organic search and particularly on page optimization and no I need to build it into our site from the onset. My problem lies in that our website stocks roughly 2000 individual products (Tools and Engineering products) and I am struggling to overcome the following; 1. I do not have the time or resource to re-write original product descriptions and specifications for 2000+ products 2. How can I create healthy on page SEO without having to do this? (we are not able to provide budget to outsource these efforts at the moment) Will copying manufacturer descriptions cripple our SEO 3. Many product specifications need to be displayed exactly as they would on the original manufacturer websites. How can I include exact copies of these without being penalized by google for duplicating content? Essentially I realise the importance of on page SEO and want to build it into the site for the future but need to find a way of optimizing it with minimal time. I understand much of this is a big ask but any hints or tips you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Rob 🙂
On-Page Optimization | | robmarr7890 -
Writing Service/Product Descriptions
Hi, I work for a site that allows people to book a variety of different services in different locations (mainly hair and beauty related). The site is still in development so I can't link to it I'm afraid. My colleague is about to start writing these descriptions for each of the beauty salons we have signed up and I thought I'd take the opportunity to check what everyone else thought about these descriptions. As far as I'm concerned, a near perfect example can be found at http://www.toptable.co.uk/fishers-in-the-city We have about 100 words at the most, so I was thinking that as long as we get in the name of the salon, the location (being more descriptive than the general area our services search function allows for) and the USP of each salon - their specialty services. Is there anything else you'd include? Foremost, I want this to be as descriptive as possible to offer more detailed information about the salon. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | LeahHutcheon0 -
Duplicate eCommerce Product Descriptions
I know that creating original product descriptions is best practices. What I don't understand is how other sites are able to generate significant traffic while still using duplicate product descriptions on all product pages. How are they not being penalized by Google?
On-Page Optimization | | mj7750 -
To enter keyword meta tags or to not enter keyword meta tags?
I've been doing SEO for awhile, but new to SEOMoz. I'm surprised that SEOMoz does not recommend keyword meta tags. I didn't enter them for the longest time because I know Google doesn't care about them. However, I did read that other search engines DO use them. And therefore that is why you should have them. I teach my customers about SEO, and I know it would be much easier for them not to enter or worry about the keyword meta tags. However, I would love to hear opinions here. And to Bing/Yahoo put any weight into them or is it only really small search engines? Thanks! Hilary
On-Page Optimization | | endlessrange0 -
Best practice for Meta-Robots tag in categories and author pages?
For some of our site we use Wordpress, which we really like working with. The question I have is for the categories and authors pages (and similiar pages), i.e. the one looking: http://www.domain.com/authors/. Should you or should you not use follow, noindex for meta-robots? We have a lot of categories/tags/authors which generates a lot of pages. I'm a bit worried that google won't like this and leaning towards adding the follow, noindex. But the more I read about it, the more I see people disagree. What does the community of Seomoz think?
On-Page Optimization | | Lobtec0 -
Should we create separate product descriptions for our customers' web sites?
Still got my SEO learner plates on, but I'm trying to help a small e-commerce site which makes and sells baby products . They have upwards of 150 independent retailers also selling their products. Mindful of the fact that many of these retailers are copying the same product descriptions to use on their own web sites, I wondered if there was any value in creating separate sets of product descriptions, one for our web site and one for all their trade customers, in order to minimise the amount of duplicated content devaluing our site. In theory Google ought to know that ours is the original source of the content, but some testing has shown customers ranking higher for the same product descriptions. We have a separate area on the site for trade, which contains lots of media information they can use, and we could include a set of product descriptions in this area for trade customers to download, keeping a unique set of product descriptions for ourselves. We won't stop duplicate content entirely, I realise - but do you think it's worth the effort of trying to implement? Our web developer thinks it's a total waste of time and not worth bothering with for the miniscule benefit he thinks we'll gain. Grateful for any pointers.
On-Page Optimization | | Mandy_Cochrane0