How to Create Effective Meta Tags for Better Click-Through Rates

What are Meta Tags?

Meta tags are snippets of text describing your website content. They do not appear on the page, but are an important part of your website code. Search engines, such as Google, use meta tags to understand the context of your page, helping to rank the page accurately in search results. 

Common meta tags include:

• Title tag
• Meta description
• Meta robots tag
• Viewport meta tag

How do Meta Tags Influence Your SEO Efforts?

Maybe you are wondering if meta tags are really important to your SEO success. They may not seem much, but behind the scenes, they make a significant different. What we do know is meta tags help search engines understand what your web page is about. They don't guarantee a better ranking, but it gives the search engines valuable context about your page. While meta tags may not directly influence your ranking in SERPs, they can play a vital role in improving your click through rate (CTA), and that matters to your overall performance.

How to Create Effective Meta Tags for Better Click Through Rates

A well-crafted meta tag can make a serious difference to how your content is seen by search engines and users. 

Don't Go Over the Character Limit

Title tags and meta descriptions must be concise in order to display accurately in search results. Title tags should be no more than sixty characters, while meta descriptions must remain under one hundred and sixty characters.

Focus on Keywords

Always include your primary keywords in the title tag and meta description. This must not be forced, but appear naturally. Keywords are important in helping search engines understand what your content is about.

Every Page Must Have Unique Tags

Two pages should never have the same tags, this means every single page on your website must have its own title tag and meta description. This helps search engines differentiate your pages.

Focus on User Engagement

Meta tags are not only for search engines, they are useful to your audience as well. Your meta tags should grab your users attention, offering a quick summary of the content, with a clear call to action. 

Conclusion

When you optimise your meta tags, you should follow the above steps, ensuring that they are unique, within their character limit and offer valuable information in the most concise manner possible. Even with a great meta description, there is no guarantee that Google will use it, sometimes taking a snippet from your content. When used properly, meta tags are powerful tools to help search engines and users understand and engage with your content. Do you need help with your meta tags, or other SEO processes? Reach out to Genie Crawl now for assistance.