We can follow 5 rules to optimize Meta tag descriptions to improve the ranking in Google search results. We can use Meta tags in HTML codes to provide information on the webpage content to search engines and visitors. The content of <meta></meta> is mainly shown in the search results. So, meta description helps the user to get an idea about the content of the webpage.
Meta tag is normally added inside the <head></head> tag of HTML code. Besides, Meta tags can contain several tags for the following:
- Meta title
- Meta description
- Meta keywords, etc.
Objectives of Meta Tag Description
The main objectives of Meta tags are
- To attract the user to click your page link from the search result
- To provide page content information to search engines
If we don’t use <meta> description, Google will show content from your webpage. Sometimes, even if we use <meta> description, Google may show content other than the one provided in <meta> tag. Google mainly shows the content related to the searched terms by the visitor in the meta position of the search result. So, if Google thinks that your <meta> description is not good enough, it will automatically select a portion from your website and show it to the user in its search result.
5 Rules to Optimize Meta Tag Description
We have to follow 5 rules to optimize meta tag description:
- Length: The length of the Meta description should be within 150 to 160 characters.
- Focus Keywords: We should ensure that the keywords are present in the Meta description.
- Match Content: We should match the content of the Meta description with the content of our page. And if it does not match, Google will penalize our page rank.
- Unique Meta description: The Meta description of each page should be unique and should not overlap with the Meta description of other pages.
- Power Words: Similar to Title tag optimization, we can use power words to make the Meta description more attractive.
Therefore, if you follow these 5 rules to optimize Meta tag description, Google will gradually rank your page in the search results.