You may have optimized your product description and images as an ecommerce entrepreneur. Your work is complete once you have nailed the meta description for your web pages.
Meta descriptions are essential for on-page search engine optimization, so you should optimize them for readers and search engines. We explain the workings of meta descriptions and offer a guide on how to write meta descriptions for your online store.
You’ll have all the SEO know-how you need at this article’s end to write captivating meta descriptions.
What is a Meta description?
Meta descriptions are snippets of text summarising a web page’s content in as few as 160 characters. Meta descriptions are something you may have seen before, primarily if you use a search engine such as Google.
You’ll see a SERP when you enter your search query in Google. You’ll see a list of results related to your question on this SERP. We’ve included an image below that shows an excerpt of a SERP for Shopify.
There are two essential features that you should note. The blue text in the image is called the Title Tag. Title Tags are used to display the page title. The meta description is located below this. Its purpose is to encourage visitors to click your link from search engines.
How long should a meta description be?
Meta descriptions should be between 155 and 160 characters extended. There is no penalty for exceeding 160 characters. However, most search engines limit the snippets within this range. You can use a tool like www.charactercountonline.com to keep a count of your meta description characters.
What is the importance of Meta Descriptions?
You’ll do all you can to ensure potential customers see your products. Meta descriptions can help you increase your Clickthrough Rate. They are helpful for three sources: search engine results and social media sharing. A meta-description will help to provide additional information and attract readers to all three sources.
Google uses a webpage’s CTR (Clickthrough Rate) to determine how well it matches the search query. Meta descriptions can help increase your website’s CTR, an excellent way to improve your Google ranking.
You’ll get more visitors if you rank higher on Google. You’ll have a better chance of making sales if you get more visitors. Google has over 1 billion active monthly users!
How to Write a Good Meta Description
After we have covered the purpose of a Meta Description, we should now explain how to create a Meta Description that will increase the traffic your online store receives.
There are differences in meta descriptions between home pages and product pages. Below is a guide on how to create meta descriptions for home pages as well as product pages.
Creating a Meta Description for Your Homepage
When you write a meta description, you’ll have to communicate your company’s message in 160 characters. Even if you’re an experienced writer, this is a challenging task.
Keeping meta descriptions simple while creating compelling reasons to click the link is a good rule of thumb. Your potential customers will need to find out why they made their decision when they use Google. They’ll see your compelling meta descriptions and click the link.
Here’s a great example of a homepage meta description:
Gymshark created a meta-description summarizing the brand’s vision with just 15 words. It is short, snappy, and relevant to the audience.
You can also create a CTA (Call To Action) if, like Gymshark, you can sum up your brand in fewer than 160 characters. Gymshark’s ‘Shop Gymshark now!’ is a direct order to the audience that will encourage traffic to their online store.
The brand also uses aspirational words like “be a visionary” to communicate directly with potential customers.
Creating Meta Descriptions for Product Pages
Optimizing a product page Meta description differs from creating a homepage meta description.
You’ll want to tell potential customers what they can expect if they visit your product page rather than describing your brand in 160 characters.
Include the unique selling point of your product, as it is likely to attract potential customers.
Below is an excellent example of a meta description of a product’s page.
You can find a good meta description for Myprotein’s Protein Bar on the product page. You’ll immediately see that the product and keyword have been mentioned. This is good for SEO. You’ll see the benefits you will receive if you select these protein bars immediately after. These bars are described as a “convenient snack,” which anyone searching for a protein bar is looking for.
The meta description also states ‘an unrivaled selection of bars, …’,.’ Customers will likely visit the website to get the details as the list is incomplete and the information is missing.
Google Meta descriptions: A word of caution
Google’s meta descriptions will display the text already present on your website. While using the automatically generated meta descriptions may be sufficient, as an entrepreneur in ecommerce, it is your responsibility to ensure that your store stands apart from others. You can increase your CTR by creating your meta descriptions. This will also allow you to optimize the page for a particular keyword.
Meta Description Preview Tools
You can preview the meta description of your link before publishing it. These tools are vital if you want to boost your website’s SEO. You can use these free meta description tools to improve your website’s meta description.
Portent
Portent created a simple Meta Description Preview Tool that you can use to perfect and practice your meta descriptions. Using this tool, you’ll enter your title tag, meta-description, URL, and any keywords you want to optimize. After entering this information, a page preview will appear on a SERP.
Meta descriptions for mobile devices
It’s essential to consider mobile audiences when optimizing your online store for search engine optimization. Around 69% (or all internet users) use mobile devices to research products. This number is expected to increase in the future.
This is an excellent thing to keep in mind when creating meta descriptions. When creating meta descriptions, we recommend using Yoast. They have buttons that allow you to switch from mobile meta descriptions to desktop meta descriptions.
If you are creating meta descriptions to be displayed on mobile devices, make sure that the title tags of your titles are within 40-60 characters, and that meta descriptions are at most 90 characters. This is because mobile SERPs have fewer characters since the screen sizes are smaller.
