http://www.example.com
Rating: 4.1/5 - 112 votes
Rating: 4.1/5 - 112 votesCharacters: 0 and Pixels: 0
Characters: 0 and Pixels: 0
As a result, it fails to convey the entire message, which may prompt users to check out other pages.
Therefore, always ensure that the meta title is within the visible limit. You can use our title tag length checker tool to do so.
Don’t use the same meta title for different pages. Not only it shows lack of creativity, but may also confuse Google into thinking that they are the same pages, and suffer in SEO ranking.
Instead, each page should have a unique title that reflects its content.
If you want to rank on Google, you need to write for the users and not search engines. This means you’ll need the title to be grammatically-correct, make sense, and reflect the content of the webpage.
For example, you found a keyword for your blog that seems to be getting traffic.
The placement of the keyword does affect search ranking.
When you’re searching ‘how to choose a guitar’, the #1 result starts with the keyword.
On the 3rd spot is one where the keyword is placed somewhere in the middle of the title.
If you’re running a business, it always helps to include the brand at the end of the title. Doing so may increase the trust factor amongst users and also helps to differentiate the page amongst competitors.
You’ll want to get the entire message across with the meta title, and that means keeping the length within the limit.
Use our length checker tool when you’re optimising the meta title. The tool indicates how many characters and the pixels taken up by the title.
Keyword stuffing is a Black Hat technique that could result in the webpage getting penalised by Google.
Avoid having titles like “Best SEO Agency Top SEO Firm SEO Consultant”. First of all, it turns off users.
Second, you’re inviting trouble from Google.
By default, most website builders automatically use the H1 as the title tag. While doing so is fine for informational web pages, you may want to take a different route for products or services related content.
The H1 is what the users see when they are already on the page while the title appears before they clicked onto it. Therefore, it makes sense to provide different messages to enhance the user experience.
Meta title ought to be bold and attention-grabbing while the H1 tends to be more descriptive.
For example, the meta title of a pocket drone product page will be :
“Eachine 588 | Pocket Drone | Live Camera”
And the H1 goes like this:
“Eachine 588 Quadcopter Foldable Pocket Drone With Live Camera
Stop words are words that are not taken into account by the Google search algorithm. For example, “and, for, but, or, with” are stop words.
With only 60 characters to work on, you may want to consider omitting stopwords from the title. For example, “Automatic Coffee Maker | Sales” is as effective as “Automatic Coffee Maker for Sales”.
However, there are occasions where you’ll need to use stopwords. If you’re creating a webpage on “How to choose a coffee maker”, you can’t remove ‘how’, ‘to’, and ‘a’. A result with the title ‘choose coffee maker’ hurts user experience and in turn, negatively affects SEO.
Usually, you’re competing with other sites that are targeting the same keyword.
Instead of copying their titles, you’ll want to have something different. Appeal to the users with a more catchy title that reflects your brand.
This brings us to the next point.
If you want users to click on your page, you’ll have to tell them so, literally. Optimise your title with action words like ‘Get’, ’Learn’, ‘Make’, ‘Take’, ‘Boost’.
Action words encourage the user to click through the title, which can increase SEO ranking.
Canva has done an excellent job of leveraging action words. Despite being on the 2nd spot, users are more likely to click on it than the generic-sounding title at the top.
Here’s one title tag that starts with the keyword and enhances it with a more appealing phrase. It gives off the expectation that the article is comprehensively written and well-structured with a list.
You can also take a leaf from this blog article by Ahref. It plays on the desire and goal of the readers by implying that the podcasts listed will take them to the next level.
If you search for ‘coffee machine Singapore’, you’ll get the perfect keyword + brand combination on the title from Harvey Norman.
Meta description serves as an ‘organic ads text’ that summarises the webpage’s content for users and search engines. Compelling meta description appeals to users and increases click-through rate.
Google also highlights the keywords in the meta description, which captures user attention.
There’s a limit to the number of characters allowed on the meta description before it gets truncated. Google’s limits are
The meta description is a priceless opportunity to appeal to your users to click onto the page. Here’s how you can write better meta descriptions.
You’ll want to include the targeted keyword in the meta description. This doesn’t mean that you need to resort to keyword stuffing.
Be moderate when writing around the keyword and write in a natural manner for your users.
Most users are browsing on a mobile device, and you’ll only have 120 characters to grab their attention. Highlight exciting facts within the beginning of the meta description and keep it simple.
Avoid using the same meta description for multiple pages. You’ll want to keep it unique, for the sake of Google and readers.
If you’re running an e-commerce site that sells 10 variants of wireless headphone, you’ll need to ensure that the meta descriptions are different for each of them.
Be flexible when optimising the meta description with keywords. Instead of sticking with the primary keyword, use variations or add modifiers around it.
Get users to click in by inducing a sense of urgency, benefits and value. To do so, use CTA words like ‘Join Now’, ‘Sign Up’, “Learn More’.
Don’t let your page be just ‘another’ one on the search result. Users tend to scan through the results, and you’ll want to ensure that you’re doing something different from competitors.
Showcase a key feature of the product, or benefits to motivate users to visit the page. The Verge’s short yet comprehensive meta description sums up the iPhone 11 brilliantly, but it also attracts users to visit the page for an in-depth review.
Google will not hesitate to punish content that does not match up with the meta description. If the description states that there’s free software signup on the page, make sure that it’s true. Else, you risk losing trust from the users and having a drop in ranking.
8. Keep the meta description length within the limit.
It would be a waste if the message got lost just because the meta description got truncated after it was published. Our meta description checker tool will be handy in ensuring that the text stays within the visible characters.
Here are great examples to help you optimise your meta descriptions.
Anyone who’s not familiar with Uber will have a good idea on the ride-hailing app, with its short and sweet description.
Both the title tag and meta description length checker tool are part of our Google SERP preview tool.
Together, they allow you to preview how your webpage looks like on Google search results. The tool is designed with high accuracy to check the character and pixels count as you’re editing the meta tags.
What you’re keying into the meta title and description fields will be reflected on the Google SERP preview for both desktop and mobile devices.
You can also simulate the SERP preview with structured data (rating) and image/video snippet.
Whether you’re a marketer, webmaster or business owner, you’ll find this SERP preview tool handy.
The tool makes it easier for you to craft page title and meta description without exceeding the limits. You’re also able to visualise how it looks on Google before publishing the changes.
It helps you to plan your meta tags optimisation strategy and increases the possibility of your web pages ranking higher on Google.
Try out our Google SERP preview tool today!
