Who wants their website to rank last? If I’m seeing you right now, I bet no one’s raising their hands. It’s human nature to aspire to be the first. To be on top! The Alpha, as some would call it.
In the world of search engines, the same scenario occurs. It’s part of an SEO campaign.
Imagine you are working hard on your business, but your business’ marketing contents are not ranking. Not on the top 5 of the first page and not even on the second or third page! Do you think it will easily be visible to possible clients that are looking for the kind of product or service your business is offering? The answer is N-O.
But, what does it take to be on top and stand out in the search results?
Two basic elements are essential for search engines, like Google, to extract data from your website: the title tag and meta description.
What Is Title Tag and Meta Description
The purpose of title tags and meta descriptions is to assist search engines in understanding the contents of your site. They are displayed whenever the page is shown on the results once searched on the search engine.
The title tag specifies the title of the document posted on your website. Usually, it appears in these three areas: search engine results pages, external sites like social media sites, and browsers. On the other hand, the meta description summarizes what the page is all about. It provides more information to give the audience a glimpse of the content and better understand why they should click through your page.
How to Get More Clicks with Your Title Tag and Meta Description.
Find Out What to Include or Not
Each page should have a unique title and description. Consider this: identical title tags and meta descriptions on different sites confuse the search engine and readers. They won’t be able to decide which place to go since they cannot identify their differences. Plus, being unique is one of the best ways to encourage people to click on your site. Similarly, they should be enticing enough to persuade the reader to click through your site and not choose the others.
Keep It Short But Strong
Know the acceptable length for title tags and meta descriptions. Title tags should have 50- 60 characters to prevent being limited by the search engine. At the same time, the meta description should be 150- 154 characters only, as search engines will automatically cut off the extra characters.
Must Be Relevant
If your web page talks about your business selling a fitness training program, don’t write about financial education. It doesn’t make sense at all! Remember that the title tag and meta description should be relevant and must reflect the content on your website. It’s no good to provide a ‘clickbait’ to visitors of your website that is irrelevant to the content. You will not earn their trust, and there’s a good chance they will not consider reading on your site again next time, even if you are on the first page of search results.
Consider Visual Example
Research shows that approximately 65% of the population prefers visuals, so make sure to add visual examples like videos or images. This will help your site to attract both readers and non-readers. Thus, they can easily understand whether or not your content is what they’re looking for.
Final Point
While title tags and meta descriptions are significant in standing out in the search results, they are also crucial in getting the reader to click through to your site and engage with them. Remember, multiple websites are scrambling to be on top of the search results, and you have (more or less) 10 seconds to persuade the reader to choose your page over your competitors. You don’t want to get left behind, do you?
