Here’s a quick way to improve search rankings that even many of the most sophisticated brands miss. This simple optimization process should be part of the creation – or improvement – of any web page.
What Are Meta Tags?
Some people call them meta tags or metadata. Perhaps I’m missing part of the definition, but I just want to know what to do with these bits:
When we search for our brand name, Google ranks us first (if your brand doesn’t show up first when you search your name, you should find out why). Then the search engine also gives us some data, or metadata. We have the title tag, URL and description tag.
These pieces of data:
- Are not random
- Affect click-thru rate
- Occupy valuable real estate
- Can affect search ranking
A Bit More Explanation
If you look at our example, you can see the title contains a keyword, which in this case is our brand name. The URL and description also have the keyword.
The description does just that – it describes. The meta description has a limit of about 150-160 characters. These lines can also do some important marketing since they should carry a promise. From periscopeUP you get “deep expertise”. We also managed to sneak a secondary keyword in the description: “search marketing agency”.
People like this kind of info and will click to learn more.
How About The H1?
Some also consider the H1 metadata. The H1 is basically the title that shows up on the page when you click the link and the page opens.
NOTE: the TITLE TAG and H1 do not have to be identical. You might have a longer H1 since the title tag also has length limits of about 50-60 characters, spaces included.
Takeaways
- The meta title, description, URL and H1 should be written carefully.
- Every page on your website should have optimized metadata. If not, your site is not optimized.
- Remember to include keywords and respect length limits.
- Include a promise in the description. It’s free Google ad space.
Make your webpage a target Google can’t miss. Contact us now.
