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If you find the idea of optimizing your website for search engines overwhelming, then you’re not alone. Getting to grips with the fundamentals of SEO can be tricky—there’s a lot of technical jargon and on-page tasks to get your head around.
One factor in particular that can impact the success of your SEO in driving organic traffic to your website is your SEO titles and descriptions, officially known as meta titles and meta descriptions.
In this article, we’ll walk through exactly how to refine both of these to drive quality traffic to your site. These are the exact steps that I’ve used as a Squarespace website designer to help hundreds of clients rank on search engines for their chosen keywords.
What is a meta title?
A meta title, also known as an SEO title or a title tag, is a title that describes the content of a page. In search, a meta title is the clickable title that appears in search results and links to your website. In your browser, it’s the page title that appears at the top of your window or when you share a link.
What is a meta description?
A meta description, also known as an SEO description, is a small piece of text that describes a webpage's content in more detail. Meta descriptions are usually around 150 characters and one or two sentences. In search, a meta description is often the text that sits underneath the page title in search results.
How do meta titles and descriptions impact SEO?
Meta titles and meta descriptions can impact the SEO of your website in various ways. Two important factors they influence are the relevance of pages to specific search terms and traffic to your page from search.
Search relevance
The main task of your meta title and meta description is to tell search engines what the content on your webpage is about. They help search engine bots understand how relevant the webpage is to the term someone is searching.
What search engines hope to do is answer the exact question and need of searchers. The more helpful your page seems for a specific term, the more likely it is to rank higher in results. By understanding the content on the webpage, the search engine can rank you accordingly, meaning your SEO titles and descriptions will play a role in where you rank and growing your site traffic. That’s why it’s important to make sure you have included your target keywords on your website—more on keywords later.
Use Squarespace AI to generate site descriptions
Website traffic
Your meta titles and descriptions also impact your click-through rate. You should view both the title and the description as a way of telling a user, “This is the page you’re looking for.” The clearer and more engaging your meta title and description, the more people will click on your page when it comes up in search results.
Ensuring your meta title and description are accurate also helps to keep your bounce rate (quick exits from your website after visiting a page) low, as people will find the content on the webpage that the search result promised them.
Your click-through rate and bounce rate are both factors that search engines evaluate when ensuring that it's ranking the right content for the right terms.
5 tips for writing meta descriptions and titles
Now that you understand why meta titles and descriptions are important, let’s take a look at some top tips for writing your own. In general, try to keep titles to 60 characters or less and meta descriptions to around 160 characters.
1. Think of the user
The user should always be at the front of your thought process when writing your meta descriptions and titles. What are they looking for? What will make them click on your website? Why you and not another resource?
Think about the search term you’re targeting and the kind of content searchers will be looking for to make sure your title and description align with the user intent. For example, someone searching “weeknight pizza” is more likely to be looking for a page that promises a pizza recipe than a ranking of the best pizzas in your area.
2. Include your keywords
Try to include your target keyword/search term in your meta description and title, preferably near the start. If you don’t, you’ll be making it harder for search engines to know what terms you think the page should be ranking for and it can be harder to make it onto the first page of results.
Work your keywords in naturally, don’t be tempted to overstuff with too many keywords, and make sure your title and description make grammatical sense.
If you’re unsure what keywords you should be targeting, do some keyword research first. You can use tools like SEOSpace to do research and check things like search volume (how often a term is searched each month) and what terms your competition is ranking for. Or brainstorm ideas based on what you think people would likely be searching to find your pages.
3. Keep it simple
Avoid using too many adjectives or jargon and instead keep it simple. You have limited characters, so don’t waste them with filler. Your goal is to give a clear, straightforward summary of what’s on the webpage. Use an active, direct, engaging voice and get straight to the point.
4. Be unique
With so much online competition, your meta title and description need to stand out from the crowd. By all means, take a look at what’s currently ranking, but don’t be tempted to copy it verbatim.
Your meta description especially is a chance to showcase your business and what differentiates you. This is a place where it helps to have a sense of your brand voice and your value proposition, so you know what to highlight to your ideal audience and how to phrase it in a way that still sounds authentic.
5. Brainstorm with AI
If you’re feeling unsure of how to start, you can use an AI writer to help you generate some initial draft ideas. With content generators, the more specific you can be, the better.
For example, you might start with a prompt like, “Create 5 meta titles (60 characters or less) for [link to your web page/description of your web page] targeting [search keywords].” From there, you can edit or combine options to better fit your brand and what’s on your page.
Your website builder may also have tools for generating meta titles and descriptions. Squarespace’s AI writer can help you generate options customized to your brand identity. Or you can access a generator tool in SEOSpace that automatically accounts for your target.
Examples of good meta titles and descriptions
Below we’ve created some examples of meta titles and descriptions for different pages on a fictional home furnishing website called Heritage & Home, targeting the search term “luxury bedding sets”.
Homepage
Since this is the business’ homepage, the SEO title and description should summarize the business and its selling points, like the page itself does.
Meta title: Luxury Bedding Sets & Home Furnishings | Heritage & Home
Meta description: Discover Heritage & Home's luxury bedding sets, made with comfort and style in mind. Elevate your bedroom decor with premium bed linen sets, duvets, and pillowcases.
About page
On this more narrowly focused page, the copy should naturally work in the target search term, but be clear about what someone will find on that page—background about the business.
Meta title: About Heritage & Home | Luxury Bedding Sets for Elegant Living
Meta description: Learn more about Heritage & Home, your destination for luxury bedding sets crafted for elegance and comfort. Explore our high-quality home decor designed for timeless style and sophistication.
Product page
For product pages, a searcher is either doing research or ready to buy. Your title and description should be clear about what product is on the page and highlight subcategories or product details to encourage a sale.
Meta title: Luxury Bedding Sets | Heritage & Home
Meta description: Shop Heritage & Home’s collection of luxury bedding sets, duvet covers, sheets, and pillowcases to transform your bedroom into a sanctuary of style and relaxation.
Crafting an optimized meta description and title for your web pages is a vital part of enhancing the visitor experience, climbing search rankings, and driving organic traffic to your website. Remember to keep your meta titles and descriptions unique and tailored to your content and what you offer users. They’re a chance to ensure search engines and potential site visitors understand what’s on the page, so make sure you are maximizing their potential.