SEO Value of Meta Description

First, here is where a meta description shows up in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Notice that the keyword appears bold throughout the SERP.

Meta descriptions are in the red boxes.

Let’s answer a few questions:

What Is A Meta Description?

A snippet of text describing a page of a site that the search engines use to give further information on the SERP. A description is showed for every page result on a SERP and should be different for every page of a website. There are 2 places a search engine will pull from a website to get this snippet of info:

a. A pulled snippet of info about the page from the text on the web.

b. A snippet from the meta description found in the source code of a website page.



Here is where a meta description can be found in the source code of a web page.

What Is It Used For?

The meta description typically shows up for listing on the SERPs whenever a search query is performed. The meta description appears below the title tag of the page result and above the URL for the page result. If a web page does not have a given meta description, the search engine will pull a snippet of text from the site which relates to the search query.

Every web page should have its own unique meta description that explains the content of the page. This is important as search engines like to read unique content that is congruent with the search query and related to the content of your page. Keep in mind that search engine typically will only present about 165-170 characters worth of meta description per webpage. Google usually provides about 150 characters. Let’s look at the benefit of having a well thought out meta description:

• Unique Selling Point.
• Call to Action.
• Add a Sense of Urgency.
• Pre-Qualify Customers.

This should entice the consumer to click on your page listing rather than your competition’s.

Unique meta descriptions improve the marketability of your web page.

What is the SEO Value of Meta Description?

There has been debate of how valuable a page’s meta description is to SEO. Some may think that a meta description is crucial and others may think it is of little importance. These facts remain:

• Your meta description is showing up as part of the natural results presented by major search engines.
• Search engines are reading this content, to possibly publish in a SERP.
• Depending on how well your page is optimized and your industry, it may be showing up in front of hundreds (possibly thousands) of searchers a day!

Though search engines and consumers alike may use your meta description as a way to find out quickly what you do, a meta description is not a high ranking factor for SEO.

In summary, the search engines may not be putting a large emphasis on meta description as SEO value, but a well marketed meta description can give you the competitive edge, improve click through rate and increase return on investment.

Contact our experts at Boostability for further assistance.