Meta Description Tag for Boosting Your Click-Through Rate

What is a Meta Description Tag?

A description tag is a piece of HTML code that summarizes the content of a web page. It is not seen on the webpage, but search engines use it to show the searchers a snippet of the text on the search engine result pages or SERPs.

The Importance of a Description Tag

All professional SEO experts agree that a well-written description tag helps improve a web page’s click-through rate or CTR. But what exactly is CTR? It is the percentage of people who see a search result and visit that particular website by clicking on the link. And what makes a good description tag? It has the following features:

• Clear
• Concise
• Informative
• Accurate reflection of the content on the webpage

Let us have a look at an excellent example of a description tag for a digital marketing company

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We are one of the best digital marketing companies. We can help boost the traffic on your website and also the sales you can generate. We have numerous digital marketing services for you, including – Search Engine Optimization (SEO), PPC or Pay-Per-Click Advertising, SMM or Social Media Marketing, and Content Marketing.

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Description Tag

The above-mentioned description tag is an ideal example of a well-written one. Why? Because it is clear, concise, informative, and uses relevant keywords per the company’s services. These keywords are – digital marketing, SEO, PPC, best digital marketing companies, SMM, etc.

Furthermore, the description tag includes a CTA or call to action that promotes clicking on the link to understand more about the company’s offerings.

What happens when you don’t have a description tag? What does Google do in this situation?

You don’t add a description tag for a web page. In that case, Google will utilize the first few paragraphs from the content on that page to create a snippet and use it as the description tag to be displayed on the SERPs. Of course, there may be more effective versions than this automated version. Hence, writing a custom, clear, concise, relevant, and keyword-rich description tag is always a good idea.

Do description tags affect my Google ranking?

While a description tag may not directly affect your ranking on SERPs, an indirect effect has been observed. How? A description tag improves your CTR, ensuring that Google sees your web pages as relevant to the keywords typed by the searchers. This, in turn, will improve your ranking.

If Google doesn’t use a description tag for ranking, then does using it matter?

Even if Google doesn’t use a description tag for ranking your web page on search engine result pages, it still matters. This is because a well-written description tag boosts CTS, bringing more traffic to your website.

What are some valuable tips for writing an excellent description tag?

Listed below are some of the most important tips to help you write a good description tag:

• Don’texceed the character limit: A description tag’s character limit is 150 characters.
• Use keywords: These should be relevant to the content published on that specific webpage.
• Keep it clear and concise: Ensure that the description tag written by you precisely reflects the content on that web page and is easy to understand for visitors.
• Use a CTA button: Always mention a clear call to action encouraging your visitors to take the desired action like, “click here to know more,” or “sign up for our exclusive newsletter,” etc.