Is Meta Description Still Relevant For Site Ranking?
As we all knew, in Dec2017, Google announced a new meta description text length of 230-320 characters instead of about 160 characters.
Google being Google, after 5 months, they made a u-turn and announced they prefer short text snippets on search result page.
Common Google, you'd said!
Here's another perception we all need to consider when creating our meta-description or our content in general.
Google's Danny Sullivan stated that there is no fixed overall length of text description as it is changed dynamically. Meaning, it would depend on Google what to display as meta-description of a post/page.
Google does not announce a new recommended length for meta description text because, according to them, it is dynamically created.
I have made a short research to see if what Danny's statement is correct.
The result (below) should confirm that Google would pick whatever portion of your content as the meta-description to be displayed on their result page.
The first post is from Yoast, published on Jul2018 which was after Google announcement in May2018 that they would prefer a short meta-description. You can see that the meta-description shown for the post is definitely more than 155 characters.
That confirms the meta-description is now DYNAMIC!
SEO experts have many opinions on this matter. I would however, pick the one that make the most sense.
The meta description should continue to be written for the user and it should be as close as possible to describe the content of that page. It is recommended between 150-165 characters in long description.
In short, when writing a meta description text for your posts,
- Write a description for the user in mind!
- If you are using All In One SEO or Yoast, try as much as possible to include the most relevant content of your article in the first 155-165 chars especially when you set the auto-description to 'yes'.
- The search engine decides whether to use it as a meta description, or does it extract from the content of the text on the page/post.
- Length about 150-165 characters
- Keep in mind that each page on your site should have a unique meta description text
Did you write meta-description in your blog post? If you do, how long?
or
You don't care? Why?
Please share your thoughts and if you like the post, please leave your comments below.
Thank you in advance.
Work Smart Not Hard!
✌(-‿-)✌
Joe
Disclaimer: Joe is not an SEO guru :)
Recent Comments
41
I used to use mainly the first part of my article, up to 320 characters. Now I had to go back and update everyone to the new 160 character rule, but I still use the first part of my article that will grab the readers attention.
You are right Curtis. The title should match the meta-desc.
Thanks for sharing your insight.
:)
Joe
The first 160 words of your article should tell the reader why they should read the article. Your meta-description should be those same 160 words. Then it doesn't matter where Google pulls its information from.
Well said Bill. It's a valid point and add value to the post.
Thanks for sharing your thought here.
:)
Joe
LOL Trish.
You made me smile and thanks for that.
Thanks for stopping by. Appreciate it Trish.
:)
Joe
As I understand, the Meta Description, in short, describes the essence of your entire article. If I have many contents on a google page I click the one with the best Meta Description.
Per my understanding, It should be succinct and sweet that describes why you have written this piece.
Thank you for sharing. It confirms my experience. After watching Jay's video on how to index our article on Google, I have been adding meta description. It really helped index my article faster than when I do not regardless of the length. I try to keep it simple and relevant to my article with the length in mind.
Thank you for your research and info.
Thanks for sharing your story Ha.
That should confirm that meta-description still counted in get ranking.
:)
Joe
Very interesting Post! ... thanks kindly for sharing this most helpful info. on the latest about Google is up to.... enjoy a beautiful, sunny Sunday... cheerio.. :)
I think that sometime in the future, Google will disregard what website developers/owners write. Google will generate all meta descriptions using their AI algorithms.
Yes, but it is their website and their rules. And they want their "customers" to have the best experience.
Hey Joe,
As Meta Description affects Click-Through-Rate (CTR) which is a ranking factor, it means it indirectly affects ranking.
I think we should pay attention to it when writing though Google will pick a portion of your text as you mention.
I hope you are having a great weekend
See more comments
Thanks for the reminder.
Welcome Nakabugo.
:)
Joe