Meta descriptions are really advertising copy!
Your meta tag page description writing is advertising copy plain and simple. I find meta tag description writing to be the most interesting and creative part of search engine optimization.
This should be simple for those of you who have done any work with pay per click advertising (think Google Adwords). You know how much time and energy you have to put into writing, testing and tracking those ridiculously short snippets of ad copy Google allows.
Writing meta tag page descriptions should get no less attention. You may not be able to test or track meta tag page descriptions like yo ucan test and track adwords... but that’s all the more reason you should spend time up-front creating page descriptions that are well written in the first place.
The fundamental facts don't change much... as time goes by:
Do your preliminary keyword research for the pageFocus on the most important keywords
Create meta tag page descriptions that include your most important keywords and keyword phrases
Try to keep the overall length of your meta tag page description to about 250 characters. Some say only 150 but for longer phrases you could get more in your snippet.
Write with an information hierarchy… this means:
start your description with your most important elements. this is almost always your targeted keyword , at least 99% of the time.
Follow with your second most impotant element, then the third etc. etc.
Include a call to action or even an offer in you meta tage page description – think like a marketing person and do some advetising! Write the same sort of phrases you would do for an advertising headline or an adwords text ad except focus on the keywords.
Youmay want to grab attention by asking a provocative question etc. Write anything you might write in a paid advertisement
When your listing on the search engine results pages show up the keywords, and keyword phrases you have include in your page description will be highlighted in bold. Remember: the average searcher visually scans the page and tends to only pay attention to the boldface keywords when deciding which listing to click on.Write out your page description in a word processor and take a look at how it might look when it shows up on the search engine results page.Add you page title above it to see the complete view of how your search engine result listing might look.Now bold the keywords or keyword phrasesDon’t like what you see? Start changing things aroundRead More In This Series Folder and File Names: Use Keywords For Better Search ResultsWriting Anchor Text Links With KeywordsBasic Content Writing Tips For Better Search ResultsPage Description Meta Tags: Writing For Better Search ResultsPage Title HTML Tags: Writing Tips For Better Search Results
