In 2017 the pages title and meta description still remain very important. One of the first thing an SEO agency will do when they start a new campaign is review and edit the page titles. Often one of the most basic yet over looked aspects of SEO. Page titles are not only important for Google and search engine optimisation, they can also help significantly improve the click through rate of your website.
What to include in a page title?
As a standard, your page title should include the focus keyword that you intend to optimise on the given page, along with your business name. This demonstrates to Google what the page is about. It will also indicate to searchers and potential visitors that the page include information on the query they have typed in. Page titles should generally be kept to around 60 characters. If your website is built in WordPress, Yoast SEO is a plugin we would recommend. It highlights to the webmaster when a page title is too short or too long.
Remember to keep your page titles to the point, and ensure that they are informative.
What to include in a meta description?
The meta description is essentially a brief overview of what your website page is about. It provides an opportunity to entice searchers to click through to your website rather than your competitors. As a general rule meta descriptions should be kept to as close as 160 characters possible.
Whether meta descriptions are still important to Google from a SEO perspective is questionable. However it still remains essential to include your focus keyword within your meta description in order to indicate to searchers that your web page is relevant to a searchers query.
Hints and Tips
Page titles and meta descriptions should be tailored around the goals of your website. For example if you are an online retailer, ensure that you include this in your meta description. A good way to increase your click through rate is to include your keyword (which if you are an online store will often be a product) along with the price it starts from. If you provide next day/fast delivery, include that as well. Small selling points in your meta description may be the difference between a searcher clicking on your website over a competitors.
The same rules apply if you are a local service provider. Include the essential information that you would wish to see if you were looking for a service. We would recommend that you include the service you provide, the area where you provide it, your working/opening times. If you are a plumber and can get to a job within the same day, be sure to include it in your meta description.
