Why i am going against the law
WHY I AM GOING AGAINST THE LAW..!
I am guessing that most of us have been taught to keep our meta descriptions down to 160 characters or less, Yes, Agree? And rightly so because that was one of the rules. And still to this day the All in One SEO free version guides us into keeping our characters below 160 by colour coding our text as we write our description, true?
Now I am so happy I found Wealthy Affiliate. Kyle and Carson are my Gurus not forgetting Jay, Marion Black, Loes, Boomer and other great people within. They have taught me so much and how to open my mind, create, and explore. In fact, I am doing so much exploring that my mind is in great shape to fight off the evil twins AL and ZEIMERS just incase they decide to pop by and say hello. I am alert now and watching thanks to Wealthy Affiliate
Now this exploration and major opening of my mind valve has lead me to research other gurus as well for SEO optimisation. Well not really gurus just one in particular, Neil Patel, which I am sure most of us have heard of. HOWEVER, for our new members who not heard of Neil, I would like to pass on some advice that I received from Neil Patel this morning. Some of you may already have become OUTLAWS and BREAKING THE LAW like myself. So for those who are not yet outlaws I will show you how you can joing THE HOLE IN THE SEO GANG below!
- INCREASE THE LENGTH OF YOUR META DESCRIPTIONS FROM 160 CHARACTERS TO 230 CHARACTERS DESPITE WHAT SEO PROGRAMS RECOMMEND.
- SINCE DECEMBER 2017 51% OF SEARCH RESULTS HAVE LENGTHIER SNIPPETS IN AT THE LEAST 1 OF THE TOP 10, according to Moz.
Prior to the end of 2017 Google focussed on 160 characters or less because they thought this was sufficient enough so that both humans and bots could understand what the description was all about. So now it's all about providing visitors with more information so they can decide if it is worthwhile visiting a page. AND this is very important because if you put a misinformed description and entice the visitor to visit your page and you are just simply rambling on about something irrevelant or completely different, you will be penalised and most probably severly.
Now what will you do, keep it at 160 characters or risk and increase it to 230?
Brad
Recent Comments
36
Wonderful information. I have always just put in a description that told the readers what to expect. I tried to keep it close to 160 but often went over a few. now I know I can. Thank You
Maryann
I've been following the rules and keeping mine at 160. Guess I'm going to do some rule breaking now!
So did I Brenda but I have changed. I only found out 20 minutes ago that Google has over 200 factors in their algorithms for SEO. See Google doesn't tell you all the changes because they want people to pay to advertise. It is worth billions and billions to them.
Geez, Brad - I'm a very bad boy - because, I routinely (and blatantly) push the 230 character "absolute limit."
I don't think I have any meta descriptions less than 220. And, admittedly, I probably have some > 230.
Sounds like capital punishment time for me!
:-)
Jim
Well, it looks like I have joined your gang, Jim, because I am now doing the same despite the SEO recommendations of 160.
Sorry that's the guillotine, in that case we won't be so tall. We could go bowling without bodies instead.
Ok - OK - If you're gonna get all technical on me.
Here's the special gallows for both of us.
:-)
Jm
How many lives did you get Jim? You've had your head chopped off, then hung, not sure how that can happen without a head but hey no rules here, now you've been fried. Was I with you on all three occasions? hehe
Thanks Brad but I thought I read a post here not long ago, that Google changed it back to 160 characters for our meta description. Maybe I'm wrong...
Monica
Yes, I also recall something like that, Monica! But I also recall something about it now being "fluent", or dynamically created, not necessarily that which we enter as the meta tag. Hmmmm... so many confusing info.
Sharlee (Chocolate IceCream)
Hi Sharlee,
Great to hear from you!
Ahhh, makes sense. Yes... confusing info. Hopefully, there will be more comments coming in.
How are you doing?
Monica
https://neilpatel.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/seocheatsheet.pdf
This is what I received this morning
@mbouteiller https://neilpatel.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/seocheatsheet.pdf
This is what I received this morning
Hi Monica
I've looked around, but I can't find that post where that was said recently. I hope the person who posted it, would respond.
With an ice cream in hand - what can be better? ;-) LOL!
And how about you Monica, how are you doing? ;-)
Sharlee (Chocolate IceCream)
Hey Sharlee,
Ya... I've been looking but can't find that post. I think this person is an Ambassador.
Have you tried green tea ice cream? It's ummmm good too! Just as yummy as chocolate ice cream.
I'm finally getting the hang of writing reviews. Thanks to littlemama ... she really helped me.
How are you doing here?
Monica
Hi Monica
No, never heard of green tea ice cream! I like green tea... And it is a proper ice cream, not sorbet, right? On your recommendation I will definitely try it if I ever happen to see it here in our corner of paradise! ;-)
I'm still battling with writing reviews. Does Grace have a training about that? Or was it 1-on-1 help?
Wishing you much success, Monica!
Sharlee (Chocolate IceCream)
Hi Sharlee,
The only place I can get green tea ice cream is at a sushi restaurant. No... not sorbet. I love chocolate ice cream but the green tea is the best ice cream in my opinion...lol.
Regarding reviews... I have no problem writing, in fact, I ended up with over 4700 words and was still writing and still unhappy with the content...lol! I was losing quality content. It took me literally about a month to finally get peace and the feeling that I had quality content to help my readers. The help came from Grace.
Grace came to the rescue by giving me feedback on my review and told me what I didn't need and why.
She has given me a ton of confidence and now have a positive attitude that 'I love writing reviews'.
My words on that review went down to 2300 and I think I can reduce that to at least 2000 words with great quality content.
My new review template is coming together. I am currently writing a new review and I feel good about it.
The thing is... yes, there are helpful posts here on how to write reviews. Jerry Huang recently wrote a great tutorial on this... but I still was not getting it. I couldn't wrap my thinking on how to do this with my product. (it takes me a while to process the data and I overthink ...lol)
I PM'ed Grace but after reading what Nathaniel's post said just recently, I realized I should have shared and let others see my challenges. I didn't think I was allowed to show my url of my review post and so I PM Grace.
See what I mean? Lol... I have no problem writing.. I just need to get to the point and STOP!
Monica
Awww dearest Monica!
I wish I could give you a big eHug!
Thank you for this answer! I am gleaning a lot of wisdom and help from it - thank you!
I'm going to read it a second time.
Yes, I also have a lengthy post and then I stopped writing, because I felt like I wasn't adding value.
This is what stands out to me: " I am currently writing a new review and I feel good about it."
I also want to be able to say that one day!
Let me go have another go at it... ;-)
Thank you very much, Monica, much appreciated!!
Ah, I'll lookout for a Sushi restaurant - thanks for that!
Sharlee (Chocolate IceCream)
Hi Sharlee,
Ohhh, you're welcome! Lol... you are like me. Long reviews eh?
I know you will get that same good feeling. After that, you will roll out those reviews.
If you like, I can look at your review and give you constructive feedback the Grace did on mine.
Let me know when you find the green tea ice cream.
Monica
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I generally do my first paragraph as th description. Often this is over 160 and less than 230.
Now if I can do a ≤ 160 and really describe the article great. But frustratingly enough that rarely happens.
So yes I am going to try your upper level a couple of times. It sounds far more expressive.