These are two vital elements that are not seen on the page but are seen on the SERPS. This impactful description that impacts the visitors to the SERP accords initial information and enhances CTR if properly executed. These elements hold greater importance and they should end up making the search engines understand the
Title
While the title is visible as the most inviting element on the search engine result pages, it is meant for humans as well as the search engines. It is an HTML attribute. The title describes the page offering and just that. How craftily, it is written will make an impact on the visitors but will also inform the search engines what the page is all about. The title is written as:
<title>xyz</title>
Though, it is advised to keep the title small and meaningful up to 63 characters generally search engine optimizers do not follow the norm. Generally, keywords placed in the beginning make a greater impact. But keep in mind that search engines would like a naturally written narrative. A long title goes out of the visitors’ visibility but search engines read it and do not penalize it. The long title also means the dilution of keywords.
Creating a Meta Description
The meta description is an HTML attribute that describes the page and contains a call for action as well as contact information. The contact information is generally not added in form of a phone number but it should be:
Example meta description in HTML
<meta name=”description” content=” XYZ”>
A good meta description generally sees 6% more CTR than a bad one. Both the title and meta should be on all the pages. Due to extremes in the past search engines no longer value meta description for the ranking purpose but the tag still holds great information as far as the human response is concerned. Search engines generally pull out the description at the top in the absence of this tag. This has a negative impact, and the perspective is less likely to click through your website. The meta description should be unique for all the web pages.
Each webpage differs hence the title and meta should also be respectful of the page it is on. They should be describing all the pages as they are meant to be. For an experienced webmaster, it is not at all difficult to write unique descriptions.
How Long?
There is no definitive answer as to how long the meta description should be. But generally speaking, it should be up to the point. It should be between 160 to 250 characters. To make it brief the tag is written informally without using stop words. But if you are using stop words use ampersand instead of “and” and use characters for numbers instead of words. Avoid fillers to impress and use an active voice. As common sense uses most of the important information at the start of the tag. Cut the fluff and write sense to make the description dynamic. Use a call for action inviting the visitor to take more information.
Adding a call-to-action, typically at the end of your meta description, can help persuade web users to click on your web link. Be relevant and show off your USP or unique selling point.