7 Ways to Make the Best Meta Titles and Descriptions
Now more than ever, an online presence is necessary for local businesses because it helps you to market your products or services to a wider audience and gain more visibility. By online presence we mean your company website, your google business profile, your social media channels, your blog and your paid advertising, the list goes on.
However, even with all of these channels, an online presence alone isn't enough, a local company must now target its local prospects, through local search engine optimisation (SEO). SEO uses relevant keywords that any sized businesses can benefit from. However, two aspects of local SEO that are often overlooked when it comes to your website, are the meta titles and descriptions.
SERP results showing meta titles and descriptions.
So what are meta titles and descriptions?
The meta title and description are snippets displayed on a search engine results page (or ‘SERP’). The meta title is the blue, clickable link on an SERP and the meta description is the 2 lines below. They don't show on the actual website, but get indexed by search engines, making it easier for prospects to find your website.
While writing content is tricky enough, creating a meta title and meta description can be even more of a challenge because they must meet the specific requirements of search engines, such as Google.
Tips for writing your meta titles and descriptions
To help you with writing yours, here are our top tips:
1. Include Relevant Keywords
Since SEO is about search engines and keywords, it's only natural that you include relevant keywords from your product or service offering.
For example, if your main product is website design, then the meta title and meta description should mention the keywords, ‘Website design.’ You should also use the product offerings and terms your target prospects use for location, such as, ‘Website design Surrey.’
2. Integrate Your Brand’s Tone
The meta title description should be memorable and reflective of the brand's personality and tone of voice. This will help to build trust, so why not use it to your advantage? You can discuss what your company can offer or discuss the working methods you use.
For example, if you offer baked goods, you can use your meta title description to say that you use fresh or organic ingredients. If you are a portrait photographer you can mention retouching services or location scouting. This can help build your reputation because your potential customer will understand your USPs.
3. Map Out Your Prospects’ User Journey
The customer journey comprises several steps, and you need to rank high in each stage. Among the stages are Awareness, Consideration, and Purchase. The customer will use different search terms in each stage, so you need to bear this in mind when creating your meta titles.
At the Awareness stage, your prospects might use generic terms like ‘accountants chelmsford’ or ‘web agency’. The meta title description should address these terms via your website copy.
In the Consideration stage, your prospects will use questions like, ‘How much does it cost?’ or ‘What are your payment terms?’.
The Purchase stage is the last part, which involves the client buying from you. Search terms at this stage might include higher intent phrases such as ‘buy’ or ‘book’ as well as the service and location keywords.
4. Conduct Competitor Research
Knowing what your competitors are doing is an excellent way to ensure you're on the right track. SEO is a method that everybody uses, so there should be plenty of competitor information out there.
Try to be creative and invest time in developing your meta titles and descriptions. It's also worth noting that you can use the meta title descriptions as clickbait. This is helpful because it can convince customers to click on your website instead of your competitors, meaning you have a competitive edge.
5. Target a Specific Search Intent
‘Search intent’ is the reason why people search for something. It shows the level of interest the potential customer has in the product.
For example, a prospect searching for a firm of solicitors in Edinburgh is high up on the scale of purchase intent because they know exactly what they're looking for. Their search results are also precise, allowing them to narrow down their choices.
6. Use Trending Social Headlines in your meta titles and descriptions
There is already plenty of content that you can use in your meta titles and descriptions. It’s a good idea to consider social media trends, as they can help get your meta titles and descriptions noticed.
These trends can be taken advantage of because your target prospects are using them right now, meaning they are current and popular. You can use these terms as a call to action, or you can use them to generate more interest. The best part is that they're unique, allowing you to use them to your advantage.
7. Rework Your Meta Descriptions on Older Content
Just because you're producing fresh content regularly doesn't mean you should ignore your legacy content. If you have plenty of content on your site, you can add or update meta titles and descriptions on older content as well. You can also rework content completely, to ensure that it’s relevant for today.
Conclusion
Meta titles and descriptions are effective once you know how to use them properly, and it is vital to include them in your SEO strategy. Giving each page a unique title may take some thought and time, but making each page on your site stand out from the competition will ultimately get your local business more clients. It makes it far easier for your visitors to know what a certain page contains, which makes their life easier. This, in turn, should translate into more click-throughs and purchases, and definitely a better user experience.