Today, there are millions of different sites on the Internet. Each owner of the Internet resource is trying to become the best and get into the top for search queries. It is because of this competition that new methods of seo-optimization of the site begin to appear .
Perhaps, before, many users forgot, did not know, or simply did not want to fill out a description, which, with the right approach, can increase the number of visitors. Let's look: what it is, what the length of the meta description should be, and how to write a high-quality description of the page.
What is meta description
Description is an HTML tag. It usually contains a description of the page on which it is placed. As you may have guessed, this tag must be installed on every page.
Why is this tag so important
Description will be displayed in search queries (below the name of your site) and in social networks. If you can optimize the quality of the description, you can increase the number of visitors on your site. Also, if this tag is interestingly written, then more people will want to go to your site.
Does the meta description tag affect ranking in Yandex and Google?
The length of the description and the meta tag itself do not affect the ranking of sites. This can be obtained from official Google sources. Unfortunately, now it is not known how Yandex takes into account the description.
Description on Google
So let's look at the descriptions of different sites. For example, we’ll enter “description” into Google’s search query. What do we see?
On the first site there is a description of the page. This is just one sentence that can answer the user's question.
Consider the second site. There is no HTML description tag on it, since Google itself selected a suitable sentence from the article. Of course, it also displays detailed information that can help the user, but this does not always happen.
Remember, if you do not optimize the description or leave this field empty, the search engine will automatically compile it. Of course, it may not display the full information that the user needs.
Another important point. When writing descriptions, you must enter keywords and mark them in bold. Just do not overdo it, as a large number of keywords can only do much harm.
Google Size Description
The length of the description should not be very small. If this tag is less than 50 characters, then it simply will not be displayed, even if keywords are present.
The maximum length of description should not exceed 140 characters. If it displays the user's request as much as possible, then Google will display the first 140 characters, after which it will insert an ellipsis. Unfortunately, you cannot write a description larger than the allowed value, so the allowed length of the Google description should contain the selected keywords and your thoughts.
Description on Yandex
Yandex has another technology for selecting information to formulate an article description. However, it is found a little less often than in Google. You can see that the first site contains a description, but the second does not. Like Google, Yandex will generate a description from the information on the page if you do not write your own or it will not display the user's request. To make it more convenient for a person to find useful information, keywords will appear in bold.
The size of the description in Yandex
The length of the description for Yandex is formed according to different criteria. However, it must not exceed 200 characters. The optimal description length is about 140 characters. If this tag exceeds the permissible size, then Yandex will clip it. If it is very short, then the search engine will not expose it.
Do I need to make a description at all?
Of course, many site owners are concerned about the question: "Do I need to make a description?" Unfortunately, there is no definite answer to it. Since if you look at sites, you can see that it is not everywhere present.
For example, consider the sites that are in the top 10 for the query "earnings on the Internet." On some of them there is no description at all, and yet they occupy leading positions by high-frequency request. How can this be? Probably, search engines are not very picky about this, since they themselves can design a snipper for the page.
But still, many webmasters believe that with proper descriptive design, you can increase traffic to your site.
Compromise solution
Perhaps you do not have enough time or qualifications to write a quality description. In this case, you can insert the lead paragraph of the article into the HTML tag. Of course, the length of the description should be similar to the replacement. Description must be spelled correctly to increase site traffic.
How to write the correct description
As we already found out, description is a short description of the page. If it is written in high quality and users like it, they will go to your site, if not, then to a competitor's site. You must understand that when creating a description you need to focus not only on search engine robots , but also on ordinary people who will read all this.
- You must insert the main keyword in the description. It is worth noting that you do not need to spam keywords. Since it will negatively affect your site.
- Use the keywords at the beginning of the descriptor to attract the attention of users.
- It is worth remembering that the length of the description should not exceed 150 characters so that search engines do not cut it. Also, do not write less than 80 characters, as Yandex or Google will simply drop your description.
- Description is placed to interest users. If you write an interesting text in which there will be any calls to action, this will significantly increase the attendance of your resource.
- If you have created an online store, then in the description you can write various trading offers. So you are interested in the user even before he goes to your site.
- As mentioned earlier, do not spam keywords. If you do this, then search engines in the best case simply do not put your description, in the worst - they block the site.
- Description must be unique. You should not use one text on several pages.
- Try something new. After compiling the description, follow the transitions of users. If page traffic does not increase, then try writing new text.
Conclusion
The length of the description tag and the text in it play a big role in optimizing the resource. To write a quality description of the page, you must use the rules that we have already considered. If you are not going to write a description, you can use the lead paragraph, but it also needs to be optimized. Do not leave the field below the page description empty, because you will not be able to get more traffic to your resource.