Thinking about Meta Matters
There I was happily writing a blog all about the importance of Meta descriptions when confusion rained down on me.
In all our Wealthy Affiliate training the figure of 150 characters has been the target for writing a great Meta and I accept that.
Well, that was until Partha came on the scene and changed everything. But ignoring the wise words of my knowledgeable friend I went exploring for answers.
( if you don't know Partha he is a dedicated Wealthy Affiliate contributor with his own ideas.)
I have noticed more and more Meta descriptions being followed by ellipses (...) signifying more. Not just ordinary searches but people that should know. WordStream Neil Patel, Blogspot, Monster Insights, these are the top guys so they should have an idea.
Wordstream said;
Google recently expanded the standard length for meta descriptions. Formerly, meta descriptions were recommended to be 160 characters or less.
As of 2017, Google will show up to 275 characters on the SERP. Therefore, you should optimize your meta description tags to be up to 275 characters long
In 2018 Yoast followed on by saying
Snippets can now be up to 320 characters or even longer in some rare cases. We’re researching new best practices. In the meantime, Yoast SEO’s green bullets will work differently. As of today, Yoast SEO will only give you an orange bullet if your meta description length exceeds 320 characters.
However, to this day I use the Yoast SEO Pro version and he still clips me at 150 characters so that must be old news.
Google does what it wants anyway
In many cases, Google will simply ignore your well-structured Meta description and use its own version, so is it worthwhile following the rules anyway?
Making sure you have your Keyword in your Meta description and the first paragraph is also a rule I follow but am I wasting my time?
To prove all this to myself I have simply disobeyed the rules and;
1. Ignored the Meta description altogether. Just like Partha instructed me to.
2. Wrote a long meta and got a red mark by Yoast
The answer will be a while away as I wait for that first-page listing but it will be interesting.
My point of writing this is to show just how confusing this blogging thing can be when the rules are ambiguous, to say the least.
However, WA, Yoast, and AIO should know and they have a limit so I guess I shall follow the tried and true method until proven wrong.
Peter H
Recent Comments
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You have it all sorted out. Just follow the tried and tested way until proven wrong. Then make any adjustments necessary.
Hi - I don't even bother filling it in these days. As you said, Google is not obliged to use it and will pick whatever it wants, be that the first sentence, the middle of a paragraph, or whatever.
I pay no attention to the score in the plugin, and just write naturally, until I have fully answered the question.
LOL Partha could not have said it better, I am getting there but found my research interesting. and Hey I am not disagreeing Google will do what it wants so you are correct
Peter H
Hi Peter thanks for the detail information about meta description and how it worked but after a year I still can't figure it out. Most of my posts getting a low score in AIO because of the meta description lenth. Although I'm still searching for the correct format.
Your Meta for this must contain your exact keyword and no more than 155 characters but at least 140, Well Yoast says so anyway.
As I said if Google is not happy he will change it anyway so worry not my friend.
Peter h
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You are so right about that, Peter, and since Google changes things early and often, I don't worry about it at all at present! I have essentially dead sites live, but they will never be found. The sites I am working and will be releasing when I am ready will, most likely be the ones I worry about on this, and then, at that time, I'll take a look at what the then current "changes" will be!
Thanks for this excellent information, my friend, and have an excellent new week!
Jeff