Are Meta-descriptions important for blogs?

[rburnett]

I am tasked with optimizing an existing sites SEO. I have added meta's to all the menu pages, however they have blog section with over 700 posts. How important are meta descriptions when it comes to a websites blog? Do I need to take the time to go through 700+ blog posts and create unique meta descriptions for each one?

[tarteelequran]

Yes, as your question for 700 posts to write descriptions for all those I would say yes. For your website overall ranking you must write the description for all page uniquely.

[donsilvernail]

Hi Bek,

You surely would not have to add meta descriptions to all 700, however i would look at the posts that get the most traffic and are still relevant and find ways to improve the technical seo to these posts. You may also try to update non-performing posts with meta descriptions and technical seo if you feel they are important to the brand.

Thanks,

Don Silvernail

[NickSamuel]

Hi Bek,

The short answer is that updating meta descriptions will have zero impact directly on how well these pages rank, however a more compelling meta description combined with a pretty URL and a decent title tag will help boost click-thru-rate (CTR).

CTR as a ranking factor is the latest Google Conspiracy theories amongst SEOs. Google denies they use SERP data however a lot of professional (including I believe Rand Fishkin, founder of Moz) disagree with this assertion based on their experiences...

So basically updating metas could have an indirect benefit for ranking, but mostly there will be zero impact and thus wouldn't be worth prioritizing over high-impact SEO activities.

If you had to update some, I'f urge that you evaluate which pages already rank on the first page and prioritize them for the best chance of a direct impact.

Or again if you have limited time, just focus on the title tags themselves. These will have the biggest impact!

More Info: https://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag

I hope this sort of helps and puts you on the right path,

Nick