Improve your website’s SEO: use ‘meta descriptions’
180 characters to tell your story
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a big part of online marketing and planning content. To improve your website's ranking on search engines, make sure to periodically review your content as part of your marketing plan. These reviews include checking keywords your audience may use when they search online.
Put most of your efforts into organizing your content to enhance the user experience. Before visitors see your blog articles or services, they have to actually find your business. To get more people to visit your website, use SEO to grab their attention and make them choose your link over others.
One way to do that is to provide an inviting description of your site. Meta descriptions are an important component of your SEO strategy. They should not be overlooked as you plan for the content you need.
Google will display your website's description—if your site matches Google's analytics. You’ll want your ideal customers to find something of interest so that they’ll click on your site to learn more. And so it’s important to make the 180 characters count.
The meta description is the snippet about your website. It's the content that will display in search engine results with a link to your homepage.
Its purpose is to describe your website in a way that shows why your business is a right fit for the terms entered. This description is what will entice (or not entice) visitors to click on the link to your homepage.
How long should the description of my landing page be?
Meta descriptions are, at maximum, 300 characters for Squarespace websites. It's helpful to know that Google will truncate snippets to 155-160 characters (including spaces).
You'll want to have a minimum of 50 characters in your meta description. With less, you run the risk of not giving enough information to entice them to click on your site.
As a visitor scrolls through results, your meta description will display if your site utilizes the keywords they entered. You’ll want your ideal customers to find something of interest so that they’ll click on the link to your site to learn more. It’s vital to make those 180 characters count.
Here’s the process I use to write a meta description for a website page:
Use keywords as you create a description of the website's purpose.
Keep the description relevant to the keywords. That said, never keyword stuff. You want content that reads as if you were talking to someone.
Think about what the user has just searched for. Write your description providing a result that provides them with a well-founded resource.
Say the most important part first. (It’s hard to tell where your text will end, but you will be cut off.)
Edit what you wrote to remove any unnecessary words—obviously, not any of the keywords. For example, if you’ve used two adjectives for a noun, grab your thesaurus, and replace them with a single, more definitive descriptor.
Squarespace allows you to add page descriptions not only on your homepage but on every page). Capitalize on this and add a description for each page you want found, using the same process.
Use the menu at the top of the page to optimize your content structure
Let's say that you're selling online courses on your website. Place a page in the navigation menu where your potential customers can see all your courses in one place. You add a meta description about your courses to this page.
Organize website navigation with individual pages for each product
You can improve the structure of your content by adding links to each course. Create a meta description for each course, giving search bots more chances to find your keywords. This also makes it easier for your target audience to find the exact service or product the want.
Squarespace also allows you to block a page from results if you choose to do so. An example from my own site is the redirect page after a visitor messages me via my contact form. I've set up my page to not have Google display my "thank you for contacting me today" page.
I've done all that so now my site will get a higher ranking, right?
Meta descriptions are a great place to start, but far from the only way to improve your SEO ranking.
Google uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to determine search results. You can't guarantee where your description will be ranked. Still, your chances improve substantially when you provide a compelling description of your website.
More SEO tips
Each page on your website will have an SEO title. This can be different from the page title in your site navigation. This is the title that will show in search results. It will give the first (and maybe only) impression the user will have for your site before they move on. Make sure the title is engaging enough to influence the user to click through the link to your landing page.
Keep the SEO title under 70 characters. This is a perfect place to use your target keywords.
Your SEO title and meta description should be different for each page.
The first words of a title are weighted the highest. Start the title with a keyword phrase you're targeting. This doesn't have to be your business name. It's okay to add your name at the end if that makes sense for your site's title.
Use this valuable real estate to let the visitor know what makes your page and your business unique.
Write for your visitor, not for search engines. Let the reader what they're going to find when they click on your link. Don’t avoid showing emotion here. If they will feel welcomed and appreciated by your approach, let it show through!
Read more from Google about writing snippets here.
Find more information on the process on my GET STARTED page.
I’m a boutique web designer offering custom site designs for life coaches and professional organizers. If you’re hoping to create an online presence you’re proud of this year, check out my services to see which is the right fit for you! Ready to talk about your new site? Schedule your consultation call here.
