Newcomers to the world of paid advertising fail to realize how hard it is to attract attention from modern consumers. These consumers are bombarded with paid ads every time they perform a Google search. If you want to make your paid ads stand out, you need to realize how important it is to have well-written meta descriptions.
Meta descriptions are snippets of text that show up on search engine results pages. Successful business owners view meta descriptions as short commercials for their brand. Attention-grabbing meta descriptions can help paid ads get more attention and clicks.
As you start to venture into the world of paid advertising, you need to familiarize yourself with a few basic terms. Click-through rate is definitely one of the most important terms you need to learn before investing in paid advertising. In short, a click-through rate describes the number of times your ad is clicked by consumers versus how many times the ad is displayed.
The higher your click-through rate is, the more targeted traffic your website will ultimately receive. If you want to increase your click-through rate, it is time to optimize your meta descriptions. Here are some things you can do to improve your meta descriptions.
Create an Emotional Connection with Your Meta Descriptions
Successful paid marketing campaigns can generate twice the website traffic compared to search engine optimization campaigns. If you want consumers to pay attention to your meta descriptions, then you need to create an emotional connection with them. Creating meta descriptions without considering who your target audience is can be disastrous.
Before you can create an emotional connection with your meta descriptions, you need to consider search intent. This term describes the overall intent of a search engine user’s query. Once you work out search intent, you can create meta descriptions that appeal to the emotions of your target demographic. When trying to evoke an emotional response with your meta descriptions, you need to use words like:
- Learn
- See
- Discover
- Free
- Read more
Placing these words in the right places can help you drive more people from search engine results pages to your website.
Provide Insights About the Topic in Question
Knowing what goal you want to accomplish with your paid marketing campaign can help you target your meta descriptions. If you want to highlight your industry knowledge and drive more traffic to your website, then you need to write meta descriptions that provide insights.
Finding the right balance between providing insights and keeping the reader curious is crucial when trying to craft effective meta descriptions.
Many marketing professionals recommend starting meta descriptions with a thought-provoking question. The second line of the meta description should be designed to provide a solution to a common consumer pain point.
The call-to-action in your meta descriptions should drive curious consumers to your website for answers. Perfecting this approach to meta description writing will require lots of A/B testing. Once you see what type of meta description your audience responds to, you can use this information to perfect this vital part of your paid marketing strategy.
Create Meta Descriptions Around Your Target Keyword
Before creating new meta descriptions for your paid marketing campaigns, you must gather some important information. One of the most important things you need to know before writing meta descriptions is what target keywords you want to use. Once you have a list of SEO keywords you want to target, you can craft meta descriptions that boost click-through rates.
Not only does including target keywords in your content help you attract attention from search engine users, but it also puts you on the radar of Google. The Google algorithm considers pages with keyword-rich meta descriptions to be more relevant.
Businesses with keyword-rich meta descriptions tend to get an SEO boost and more website traffic.
Get a Little Crazy with the Meta Descriptions
It’s important to be unique. Don’t be afraid to let your creative, crazy side be seen.
The meta description doesn’t directly impact your ranking in SERPs (besides the click-through rate). Because of this, you can do something that will help your page stand out from the other listings that show up in SERPs.
Consider creating an extremely short meta description. Make a crazy claim. Do anything you can to make your page stand out. The key here is to ensure you include your keyword in the meta, only use active voice, and include some type of call to action.
Whatever you decide to create, don’t make it a “set it and forget it” description. SEO testing is never “done”; you must keep trying new things to see what works best.
Add LSI Terms to the Meta Description
LSI, or latent semantic indexing, is important. You need to pay attention to things like LSI terms and Google Autocomplete in the search results for your keywords. You can use these to create a meta description for your content.
This is something that reflects what people are searching for. Over time, the relevancy will help to boost your click-through rates (CTRs).
Add a Promise to Your Meta Descriptions
Another effective way to improve the CTR of your site is by including a promise in the meta description.
When someone is searching for something, they want to know if the site they click on will answer the question they ask. This includes what a reader will learn or the problem that will be solved. This is an effective way to encourage a higher CTR for your SEO and online marketing.
View Google Search Ads Before Creating Your Meta Description
This is a smart hack when it comes to creating effective meta descriptions. Take time to look at ads that appear in Google Search for the targeted keyword phrase on the page.
These ads will contain the most data-driven information you need regarding what will perform at the highest CTR in the meta description and title tag. That’s because you will know that advertisers are testing it continually. Also, the AdWords exchange is the only place where ads that have a decent CTR will appear.
View several ads and then use what you see in them. If you do this, you should start to see a better CTR.
Be Descriptive with Your Meta Descriptions
Your meta description tags must be descriptive. The best-performing metal descriptions will include a combination of descriptive adverbs and adjectives. It will also include relevant CTAs (call-to-actions) for the page.
A meta description needs to be customized for every page, and you should elaborate on the title tag that you create.
Use Tools to Determine the Proper Length for Your Meta Description
Finding the perfect length of your meta description is also important.
Remember, Google isn’t counting characters – it counts pixels. Each character varies in width, while pixels do not. Because of this, you should use one of the free tools available online to ensure that your snippets are the proper length.
Focus on the Value That You Offer
Emphasize the value of what you offer in a precise and concise manner. Your meta description needs to carefully outline the value of the content that someone will find on the page if they click.
It needs to specify what someone will learn, find, or be able to do after they click the link. You should not create something that is too unspecific or obvious. Because of this, it is a good idea to avoid making generic claims.
An example would be – rather than calling an interior design service “the best,” specifying that the business received the top award in the city by a local décor journal. Instead of promising your article is a “must-read guide for students,” specify that it includes salary profiles of the top 10 employers in the industry.
If you want to increase the organic CTR, ensure your meta descriptions are concise and clear and include some takeaways or benefits. People will usually scan the SERPs, so it is beneficial for the meta descriptions to get right to the point. You also need to include information that will pique the users’ interests by explaining your page’s value and why a user needs to click.
Make Your Meta Description Persuasive
Another important meta description tip to increase click-through rates is to use language that persuades the reader to read more. This means they need to include measurable, specific information that explains a benefit for the reader. It should also include a hook.
Getting the Most Out of Your Meta Descriptions
If you are creating meta descriptions for your website, it’s important to make sure that you use the tips and information above. Doing this is going to help ensure that they are effective and that they encourage the highest CTRs possible.
It is also necessary to continue testing your meta descriptions to find ways to improve them and make them even more effective.
If you need help with this process, our team at Small Business SEO can help. Reach out today for information.