Meta Tags for Beginners: What Are They?
You might not know it, but you’re already very familiar with meta tags. The most eye-catching form of meta tag is a meta title, the clickable headline for a search result. Another type of meta tag, called a meta description, is the short, descriptive text below that headline. In the background, meta tags are bits of HTML code in the page that a search result leads to. These seemingly small details have huge impacts. They’re like a business’s facade, providing the first impression potential customers get of your business. Think of them like little ads that inform both search engines and customers why you have what they need.
Why Meta Titles and Descriptions Matter
Many small business owners don’t realize it, but meta descriptions don’t have a direct impact on your search ranking. However, they have a massive influence over the number of people who click to visit your site. After all, your meta title and meta description will be surrounded by the meta titles and meta descriptions of your competitors, so yours have to be great to stand out. When more people click through to your site, search engine algorithms take notice. Search companies know that their engines live or die on giving people what they want, so they reward popularity with more popularity.
SEO Basics for High-Performance Tags
You don’t need to be an amazing marketer or writer to create fantastic meta titles and descriptions. Crafting them is a skill like any other, and you can learn how to do it by following these SEO tips for small business owners:
- Meta titles should be short, containing no more than 60 characters. Otherwise, they’ll get cut off mid-way through.
- Meta descriptions must contain no more than 160 characters, also so they won’t get cut off. The sweet spot is 150 to 160 so that you can fit in as much valuable information as possible.
- Write for humans first. Keywords are important, but it’s critical to use them in a way that sounds natural.
- Include a brief call to action. Something with three words or fewer is ideal.
- Don’t reuse meta tags on different pages. Search engines penalize that, so each one needs its own. Also, meta tags or descriptions that are vague enough to fit multiple pages are too vague to be very useful.
- Never leave meta tags and descriptions empty. If you do that, search engines will create them for you, and you may not like the results.
Small Changes, Huge Results
Thankfully, overhauling meta tags and descriptions is a walk in the park compared to most website renovation jobs. First, go over the ones you already have on the most important pages of your site. Homepages, contact pages, service pages, and any pages you especially want potential customers to see should come first. Consider whether each title actually gives a clear picture of what visitors will find on the page. Then think about whether the description provides enough motivation to click. If not, don’t fret. You know what to fix now. Search engine optimization can seem endlessly detailed and totally overwhelming at first, but it doesn’t need to be. However, if you feel your time is better spent on other aspects of your business, you still have a great option: you can rely on web marketing experts. Many business leaders do exactly that.
