Creating Meta Descriptions for SEO and Social Media

While the meta description has somewhat lost its significance as an algorithm ranking factor, it is still important for SEO and social media. The meta description is a short snippet of text that is meant to describe the content on a particular web page for search engines. It is also the text that search engines typically display as a site’s description in their organic listings. More recently, social networking sites like Facebook have also been using the meta description when a link is shared on their platform. Some best practices for writing meta descriptions are to keep them succinct and enticing. They should be 14 words or less and should always contain the page’s primary keyphrase. They should also be relevant and have a strong call to action. The more enticing the description is, the more likely the user is going to click on or share the link – therefore increasing traffic to the site. If you do not create a meta description, then Google will attempt to generate one for you. Most of the time search engines will pull a snippet from the page copy or the site’s directory listing description on DMOZ.  Contact your SEO team if you have any questions regarding how to create meta descriptions for SEO and social media.