The Importance Of Meta Tags & Descriptions
When improving a website’s search engine results the name SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is most commonly used. However, SEO can cover over 100 different topics. From the start of website creation, Meta tags and Meta descriptions are at the forefront of SEO. They cost nothing to set up and help your website in a number of ways including:
– Pushing your website up the search engine ladder
– Increase click through rate
– Targeting the right customers
As a whole, Meta Tags and Descriptions talk to search engines and its users about your website, its contents and what it offers. Each individual page will have its own set of Meta tags and Meta descriptions to correlate with whatever the user’s search query was. Let’s look at each term:
Meta tags (also known as Meta keywords) are bits of text used to describe the content on a page. They are not visible on the actual page, but are embedded into the code. For example, a website page that sells basketball jerseys could have Meta Tags such as “sport jersey, basketball apparel, singlets, team jumper, Lebron”. Meta Tags will only ever be 1 or 2 words.
Meta Descriptions describe your website page in more detail. How Meta Tags are only 1 or 2 word phrases, a Meta Description is a short summary of what the page entails. It should provide enough information to convince a user to click through to your website.
For example:
Where do you add Meta Tags and Meta Descriptions on a website?
Unless you are using a website builder that provides an option of adding Meta Tags and Descriptions, you have to enter them into the coding. They are usually both contained in the “head” of a websites code.
For example:
If you do not have any experience with web coding then its best to use a service such as WordPress or Squarespace, which provides you with an easy way to add Meta tags and descriptions in.
Don’t neglect Meta Tags and Meta Descriptions. They will not 100% help you rise to the top of search engines, but in the grand scheme of things they play a crucial role in helping you get there. The tags help search engines understand what your page is about and the description helps users in knowing what you’re providing.
