How To Add Meta Descriptions To Your Homepage
Today we are going to talk about the non-techie side of on-page SEO, and how to optimise your posts for meta descriptions (snippets). This can and should be done by writing a short and helpful excerpt that directly answers the question of the search query within the first 300 words of your post. In this way, Google will automatically show this text as the description of your post, and you will be helping search engine bots quickly understand exactly what your post is about. Furthermore, you can also add meta descriptions to your website with three popular plugins. The plugins are Rank Math, All in One SEO Pack and Yoast SEO. Meta descriptions can also be added into your PHP file with a little code.
Presumably, you do use one of the aforementioned plugins and can easily add metadata according to your requirements in the WordPress backend. However, meta descriptions can be added on a post by post biases in the WordPress editor.
What are meta descriptions
Meta descriptions are the three sentences of information that appear in your Google search results when you do any search. For the year 2020 meta descriptions were all the rage, and Google said it was not really a ranking factor. The search results told a different story.
This is a featured snippet because it directly answers the search query and is therefor rewarded top spot on the search page.
Why do you need meta descriptions
Two reasons and they are to tell people who see your website on the search results page what your page or post is about. The second reason is your meta description will let bots know exactly what your page is about.
There is a debate about whether or not meta descriptions (also known as snippets) are a valid SEO ranking factor. Well, for the not so amazing year of 2020 it definitely played a small part in ranking on Google search. The catch is that if you use a plugin or code to write your own custom snippet, Google will choose a different part of your content and put it up in search results.
So now you are thinking why take the trouble to write a snippet when Google will change my customisation anyway?
The reason your meta descriptions are not being shown is that the Google bots are looking the most useful and informative information in your post or page to answer the search query. When the bots find the best piece of information, they put that up, and your custom metadata is useless.
Remember that the bots will look through the first 300 words of your content for a relevant answer to the search query. When they have found the best answer, they can find they put it up with some keywords related to the search query in bold.
So why not write your own snippet within the first 300 words of your content? Furthermore, write your snippet answer in bold. In this way, you will be pleasing Google and more importantly, your readers. We all want a quick and accurate answer to any question. No one wants to read the answer at the end of a lengthy post.
How to add meta descriptions
So now you know that meta descriptions are a short form answer to a search term. Here is what you have to do for optimization:
- write a direct answer to the search query your post is about
- write a short answer within the first 300 words of your post
- make the text that is your answer (snippet/metadata) bold
- write the snippet like you are writing for the oxford dictionary or Wikipedia
How to add meta descriptions without plugins and code
So basically if you optimise your answer in the first 300 words of your blog post content, make the text bold, write in dictionary language, and be direct, Google will pick that as your snippet (meta description for your post). Seriously it is that simple, and the more you do it, the easier it will become.
It worked for this post as you can see. I answered your search question right off the bat, and the entire post is filled with more information covering questions you may have.
How to add keywords in your meta descriptions and why you need to
I am not talking about keyword stuffing because that is old news and a bad technique. Your post title has some keyword or is a long-tail keyword, so make sure to use it within your snippet ready text. Take a closer look at this feature snippet screenshot.
As you can see all the words that were in the search query are in bold because the bots are trying to show you that they found an article with the same keywords, you typed in the search engine.
So now you know why I recommend that you make your snippet optimised text in bold. Metadata is data about data, and in the SEO world, metadata is another word for an excerpt. Keywords in your snippet will help bots further identify what your post is about and whether or not your post is answering the searcher intent. It is optimal to add keywords in your snippets, but this does not mean that you use too many keywords throughout your blog post text.
In the SEO course by the University of California, Davis meta descriptions are the first thing they drill into you in the second part of the course.
How to add a meta description with a plugin (Rank Math)
Now I use Rank Math for the features like its auto-generated site map. I do not use it for snippets or the SEO recommendations. But you can easily use this plugin for free and have the custom snippet feature. Remember if your description is not answering the question upfront, then search engine bots (Google) will choose a different part of your text as you snippet.
Go to the WordPress back-end of your site> plugins> add new> type “Rank Math” into the plugin search> install and activate.
Here are some screenshots for a better understanding.
First go to your WordPress back- end.
Now click on “Plugins” in the right side of your dashboard.
Now click on “Add New”.
Go to the search of your plugin dashboard and type in Rank Math, press “Enter”.
Now you will have to go through a quick install process, and you will be all set. After the installation is complete in your blog post editor here is what you will see.
You can now click on “Edit Snippet” and type in your meta description for your blog post.
Why do I choose Rank Math over Yoast and All In One SEO
Yoast to my horror was making my site slow, and then when looking for alternatives, someone asked an online question that went like this:
Person 1 “what is the difference between Yoast and Rank Math?”
Person 2 “Rank Math is the premium version of Yoast for free“.
After using both plugins, I can assure you this was true. A thing to keep in mind is that plugins come and go all the time, so it is infinitely better to optimise your content for search engines like Google so that you need the minimum amount of plugins clawing at your site.
Here is a post I wrote that you can also read to understand meta descriptions further and how to add meta descriptions with Yoast.
WordPress does take care of maybe 80-90% of your SEO for you, and why not write valuable content that ranks instead of making tweaks with plugins?!
Again I do not use Rank Math for any of its SEO features, but the auto-generated sitemap is useful for search console.
Final thoughts
I hope this post was helpful and if you have any questions please feel free to ask me anything in the comments below.
After reading this post, you should now understand meta descriptions (snippets) fully. It really is quite easy and simple if you follow the practices I mentioned throughout this post. In the beginning, it may seem daunting, but the more you do it, the better you will get at it. Good luck, my webmaster comrades!