SEO meta data

(SEO) meta data are crucial to a website. Meta data includes the meta title and the meta description. Google judges partly on this basis whether the information is relevant enough for the searcher (at least the snippet). When Google deems the website relevant, it has a positive effect on the website’s ranking.

In other words, the better your meta data, the more relevant the web page is to the visitor. In this article, I tell you what the meta description and meta title mean. Next, I tell what the impact is on SEO. Finally, I tell how to optimize meta data.(1)(2)

What are the most important meta data for SEO?

Here is an overview of the most important meta data elements for SEO, arranged by priority, along with a brief explanation for each.

It is important to note that while meta data plays a role in SEO, it is only one aspect of hundreds. Consider components of SEO within content, technology and link building.

What is a meta title

A meta title is the title displayed with a search result in Google. Each page has a unique title. This is the blue title displayed as a result of a search. The meta title provides information about what can be seen on the web page.

An uncluttered and clear title is important for the CTR (click-through ratio), but it also has influence within the Google algorithm. Thus, it is important to write a concise, clear and informative title.

How do you optimize the meta title?

It is important to have the keyword you want to be found on at the front of the title. Try not to include too many keywords or the same keyword too often in a title. This obscures the information and makes the title less appealing. It is important that the meta title consists of a maximum of 57 characters. Once the number of characters exceeds that limit, the title is aborted by Google. To have the clearest possible title, the 56-character limit is crucial.

Thus, it is important to create a catchy title with the right information. When this is done in a thorough manner, it positively impacts the website’s position within Google.

The meta description

The meta description indirectly plays a crucial role in SEO success. In this article, I talk about what a meta description is and what role it plays in optimizing the findability of a website.

What is a meta description?

The meta description is a snippet with (approximately) a maximum of 135 characters. It is a tag that appears in HTML. The purpose of the meta description is to summarize the content that is on a page. This is also the piece of text displayed under the link of a search result. The meta description should match the search query that was performed.

When the meta description shows exactly the information the searcher is looking for, it sparks interest in the searcher. Provided this is the case, searchers will click faster. Thus, it is important to put keywords in the meta description. These keywords ensure that Google deems the website as relevant. This ultimately leads to a higher position within Google’s search results. This will generate more organic traffic. Therefore, optimizing the meta description is incredibly important for SEO.

Note that if you use the exact keyword that the searcher is searching for, it will be bolded, which can result in a higher CTR.

How do you optimize the meta description?

There are a number of points to consider when writing a good meta description:

• Stay under 155 characters (once this limit is exceeded, Google breaks the title);
• the tone of the text should be active;
• Put in a call-to-action;
• process the keyword;
• remain unique.

By properly deploying the above points of interest, you can design the meta description in an optimal way. When you provide a concise and relevant summary of what the searcher can find on the website on the landing page, the searcher is triggered to click. This has a positive effect on the ranking of landing pages in Google’s search results.

What does the meta description mean for SEO?

As mentioned earlier, the meta description has no direct impact on a website’s ranking. However, the meta description has an indirect benefit for SEO. Google uses the CTR (click-through-rate), or how many times the Web page was clicked through.

Based on the CTR, Google (and a complex algorithm behind it) determines whether the web page is a good result and matches the keywords entered. The meta description is important content for your visitor. Through the level of attractiveness of the meta description, you are trying to get someone to come to your page. This (potentially) positively affects the website’s position within the organic search results.

Conclusion

Setting up meta data correctly has a positive effect on SEO. Both in a direct way and an indirect way. With a well-designed snippet in the search results, this creates an increased CTR (indirect effect). With the incorporation of the keyword in the page title, this ensures a higher position (often) for this keyword (direct effect).