How to write metadata for the web and utilize its potential

Where to find metadata?

You have probably searched for something on Google or Seznam before. All search results had one thing in common – metadata. What is it? Metadata are brief, essential, and mainly engaging pieces of information about the content of a website. With their help, you have a higher chance of attracting a potential website visitor and encouraging them to click on the page. 

System vs. original metadata

They are divided into title and description, and you can fill them in directly in your website's content management system. There are two options for working with metadata. You can either leave them set automatically, which often does not look nice at all. Or you can take the time to create them manually. We definitely recommend this option.

Capture Attention in 5 Words with a Meta Title

The title invites visitors to your website. It grabs their attention, sparks curiosity, and creates a desire to click through to the page. It significantly influences the organic traffic to your site. This is also why each of your pages and subpages should have its own unique meta title. And yes – it is truly worth the effort. Every time someone opens your website in a browser window, they will see this headline.

What to Write in the Title? 

Make sure your titles always include a keyword or phrase and use it in a sentence or slogan. Additionally, definitely incorporate the company name. Also, consider what makes you better than the competition and leverage that potential right in the title. You can elaborate up to 55-60 characters. However, never exceed a length of 60 characters including spaces. The text simply would not be visible, and only three dots would appear...

Do you want to tell users more? That's what the meta description is for 

The meta description can be found right below the title. It is a short and concise text designed to attract users and bring them to the website. Write it with a maximum length of 165 characters, including spaces. Just like with the meta title, search engines will simply truncate longer text. Therefore, it's ideal to start strong with the most important information. This ensures that what needs to be communicated will be communicated. And don't hesitate to use emojis and various characters to enhance the text and make it stand out.

Even though the meta description is just one piece of the SEO puzzle, you should definitely pay attention to it. When searching for content, it is crucial for a person that the searched keywords or phrases are also present in your description. If Google finds that more people are clicking on your link (your CTR, or click-through rate changes), it will start to consider it more relevant than all others and will move it to a higher position in the search results.

Metadata also have rules

What appeals to you more? 

“Croatia vacation, available dates, June–September 2020”, 

or 

“Experience the best holidays! You can also spend an unforgettable summer in Croatia”.

As we have indicated, the goal of the title and description is to attract attention. Therefore, you should follow a few recommendations:

• Use keywords and phrases – they will be bolded in searches
• Keep in mind the length: title up to 60 characters, description a maximum of 165 characters including spaces
• Start with the most important message
• Create engaging texts, ask questions (e.g., “Do you have spring shoes yet?” or “Are you considering buying a worm composter?”)
• Don’t forget a call to action (e.g., “Find out more right now! Shop at a discount now!)
• You can't fool Google. Write descriptions that truly reflect what you offer, not to increase traffic with false information. 

Add metadata to your website

Content management systems today assume that you want to create your own metadata. You can easily find a section for editing metadata in your web administration. At PUXdesign, we work in Kentico, where adding metadata is very simple. If you are unsure, check out our  quick guide for editing these texts. In WordPress, you can use plugins like Yoast SEO or All in One SEO for the same purposes. 

The second option is to insert a meta tag and meta description into the header of the source code. It will look as follows:

<head>

<title>EXAMPLE TITLE YOU WANT TO BE SEEN</title>

</head>

<meta name="description" content="DESCRIPTION OF THE WEBSITE ACCORDING TO YOUR WISH">

When Google Sets Its Mind

Have you filled it out? Great. You have done everything within your power. However, keep in mind that, for example, the Google search engine constantly plays with the texts in the title and description and sometimes replaces them with other texts because it does not find yours sufficiently relevant. You may even see part of the text from the website itself. You have only one option to achieve your goal. Try to rewrite the metadata to better reflect the pages and their content.