When it comes to search engine optimization, one of the most important elements is creating meta descriptions. Meta descriptions are short pieces of text that appear in search engine results, used to give visitors an idea of what a web page is about. Google’s search team recently published a blog post listing a few guidelines they recommend when creating meta descriptions.
For starters, they advise keeping them fairly short, in the range of 100 to 300 characters, as users tend to lose interest when presented with too much information up front. In addition, having unique meta descriptions for each page of your website is important to ensure that users get an accurate and informative snapshot of what the page contains. Google also suggests that you use language that appeal to web surfers. This includes using action words like “learn” and “discover” as well as ensuring that the text reads like a sentence and not a list of keywords.
Google also encourages webmasters to avoid meta descriptions that are too advertising-driven, as some may view them as deceptive or bias. Finally, they advise against using the same meta description on multiple pages. This is a tactic that can be considered deceptive, as each page of your website should contain unique and targeted information.
Overall, meta descriptions are essential for SEO and Google has outlined their search team’s recommendations for how to create effective ones. Remember to keep them concise, informative, and appeal to web surfers in order to help potential visitors understand what each page contains.