How To Get More Clicks? - Don't Make These Epic Meta Description Mistakes.

byKiranoppa

1K followers

Updated 4 years ago

I was just checking my Google Search Console. I went through the keywords my website had appeared for in search results, and how many clicks I actually got for those keywords.

Some results were horrible; There were keywords my website had shown on search results for more than 100 times, and there were 0 clicks.

I asked myself a desperate question: How to get more clicks? If you're thinking about the same thing, maybe we can figure it out!

Don't Make These Epic Meta Description Mistakes.

So, what do people look at when they decide whether to click on your website on the search engine results? Your post title and meta description.

If the title is OK, then you should check your meta descriptions. And I actually found some horrible meta descriptions on some of my posts! I probably wouldn't even click on my own posts based on those meta descriptions.

These are the epic mistakes I had made in some of my meta descriptions, and these are the ones you should avoid.

1. Don't Answer Your Title Question on the Meta Description.

I can not believe I had made such a fundamental mistake. Here's an example: One of my older posts has a title "Is Pegasus a Unicorn? - Let's Ask a Pegasus!" OK, people who search for the term "is Pegasus a unicorn" probably want to know if Pegasus is a unicorn. Now, if I already tell them the answer on my meta description, why would people click on my post?

Yet that is exactly what I had done. My meta description was: "Is Pegasus a unicorn? Pegasus is a divine winged horse of Greek mythology. What´s the difference between Pegasus, a unicorn and a winged unicorn?"

Why, oh why did I say on my meta description, that Pegasus is a divine winged horse of Greek mythology? That already almost answers the question of the title!

So, I changed my meta description. This is what I wrote now: "What is the difference between a Pegasus, a unicorn and a winged unicorn? Is Pegasus a unicorn, or not? Let´s ask a Pegasus!"

Let's see, if I get some clicks on this post now that I don't answer the question of my title already in the meta description.

2. Don't Write Boring Meta Descriptions.

This is especially important, if there is a lot of competition for the keyword, and other websites have great meta descriptions.

I found out I had not got clicks on Google for "unicorn quotes". I checked my meta description for my unicorn quote post. It was a bit boring, don't you think: "Had a bad day? Or even a good one; any day is a perfect day for funny and inspirational unicorn quotes. These are quotes by unicorns and on unicorns."

Or at least I could do better, so I wrote: "Funny and inspirational unicorn quotes. By unicorns and on unicorns, from books, movies and unicorn friends. They will brighten your day with unicorn sparkle!"

At least it's a bit more inspiring and descriptive now. We will see if I get any clicks for that keyword now.

3. Be Relevant to the Keyword.

I did not actually make a mistake here, but I just found out my website had shown in searches for the keyword "what do unicorns drink" 121 times in January, and there were 0 clicks to my site with this keyword.

The post that had shown on these searches was probably my post "What Do Unicorns Eat". And that post is just about what unicorns eat, not about what they drink. These people don't click on the post, because it's not about what unicorns drink, which is what they want to know.

So, I decided to write a new post on "What do unicorns drink", because apparently, there are searches for that keyword.

So, no mistake on my part here, but sometimes when you look at your Google Search Console reports, you see some new, potential keywords people actually search for. Why not take advantage of them?

Sometimes, You Just Don't Know Why You Don't Get Clicks.

These are the mistakes you should avoid, but there are keywords that just leave you confused. There doesn't seem to be any rational answer why you're not getting clicks for these keywords.

I, for instance, don't have the slightest idea, why I'm not getting clicks with the keyword "good unicorn names", even though Google search console shows my website has shown on the search for this search result 294 times in January.

This is weird, considering that the most popular post on my site is "Best Unicorn Names". Are the people who search for "good unicorn names" looking for "just good" unicorn names, and "best unicorn names" are too good for them? I guess I'll never know.

It's probably better forget about these mystery keywords and focus on the things we can actually do something about.

Are the meta descriptions the key then? Will improving my meta descriptions get me more clicks, or am I just over analyzing? We will find out, and I will report you later!

What are your experiences on getting more clicks on search results? What has helped you get more clicks? And have you ever made any of these epic meta description mistakes? Please let me know in the comment section below!