Undoubtedly, SEO is one of the most powerful digital marketing techniques in existence. To rank among the first results in a search related to your business is probably the greatest way to generate traffic to your website.

But when searching for something in a search engine we are presented with hundreds of thousands solutions to our single problem. And we have to decide which one to click. As long as the one chosen provides the necessary solution, all of the other results cease to exist for us. But how do we choose and what’s the foundation of our decision-making on search engines?

As a webmaster, you need to win each visitor’s choice by providing him or her with something to hook on to your content in the SERP.

And I’m sure that you are giving your best to market your company. You are carefully writing product descriptions, optimizing your images, and mastering most of the other elements of effective search engine optimization (SEO).

Still, you may have a problem many webmasters have. An aspect of the SEO could be giving you the trouble: meta descriptions.

 

What is a meta description?

Meta description is the text that the search engine users will be able to read before they choose a page, and thus, website, which they’ll enter.

And if you watch your own behavior when presented with thousands of search engine results, what you most probably do is to scan them lightly, to see whether any of them is able to answer your question. What you subconsciously or consciously do is looking for the keywords you wrote in the query expecting to see them somewhere in the title, and the meta description.

Definition:

The meta description is an HTML tag summarizing your content in about 150 characters. It is the small snippet showing under the title that shows in the SERP when a search is done.

Even though Google has claimed multiple times that the meta description does not affect your SEO performance, its neglection could result in a lower CTR, and thus, lower SERP position and thus even lower CTR…. you get the point.

So, how to write a meta description that will help people understand that your content is the one that answers their questions.

 

1.The Кeyword

As mentioned, people will scan through the SERP to find what they are looking for. Whether it is the price of a specific product, the date a movie will be released, or a service of your reseller hosting business, people scan. We don’t have the time to read each and every result in a search. That is why most of the engines, are bolding the keywords of the query when they are presented in the meta description.

Doing so, helps people to find out whether the specific result they are looking for will potentially answer their question.

So, when you are writing your meta descriptions, include the keyword you are hoping to rank for. It will help users to find out whether and how much your page is related to their search, and if it is – they’ll choose your site over the others in the SERP.

 

2. The Length

One of the most specific features of a meta description is its length. It needs to be short and organized. Your meta description should be between 130 – 160 symbols.  If any longer, the text will be cut out with “…” which won’t convince the users to click.

Bear in mind that Google is an ever-changing ‘living organism’. Thus, the length of the meta description may vary.

 

3. What problem are you solving?

People are not searching on Google, just for the sake of the search. Even when we are looking for entertainment, we have a problem that needs to be solved. Namely, boredom. And that is a problem. But it is whole another story when we have a problem that the variety of the Internet alone can’t solve. When we are looking for a product, or a service, that will help us create a website or start an online business, we have a problem of a different nature.

So, as a hosting reseller, you need to think as an owner of a hosting company. Because you are one.  When you are writing the meta descriptions of your website, try to find out what problems could your service solve.

Bear in mind that people are not after ‘features’. We are after results. Thus, in your meta description, you could ‘save for later’ the details around how many of this and how many of that you are offering.

Tell people why they should have a website.  Some are doing it for the money. Others for the fame. Yet another group of people will create a website, just so they’ll be able to express themselves somehow. And of course, there are the businesses that just need the website to exist.

So try to tell people about the results they’ll get. Not the features.

Solve their problems in the meta description and they’ll gladly pay you on your website.

 

4.Call-to-action (CTA)

People need to be told what they should do next. They are not sure, whether this is the result they were looking for, but they know the problem is there, and waiting to be solved.

And even if it looks obvious that the solution is just a click away, it is still hidden by your meta description. So, invite them in. Tell them what to do next. Hold their hand throughout the process. And start by adding a CTA in your meta description.

You can, if you like to, learn more about CTA. It is reaa lly interesting topic. But whether you do it or no, try to incorporate some of these expressions into your daily web vocabulary: Try it today, Learn how, Find out more, Check it out, Discover, Read, etc.

 

Final Thoughts

Meta description is something way too often neglected. And that is a missed opportunity. Most probably not one, but thousands of missed opportunities.

Don’t waste yours and write meta descriptions for every page of your website.

Use the keywords that you want the page to rank for.

Keep the length of the meta description in mind.

Demonstrate clearly what problem you are solving.

Add a call to action.