There are many small elements of SEO that can go a long way to getting better rankings and leading people to click through to your website. One of the factors that can be overlooked or undervalued is the use of meta descriptions.

Meta descriptions are the short descriptive blurb that explains the website’s content and products for potential customers that is usually located right below the link. For many eCommerce merchants, this is a place where you can offer a small description of a product, persuading the customer to click on the link and visit your website to potentially make a purchase.

Why are meta descriptions important to SEO? Today, Genius eCommerce will provide the reasoning behind the importance of using meta descriptions to your advantage and how this can help you achieve results. This is who we are and what we do!

Meta descriptions are important to SEO because they are a direct ranking factor. Much like how a keyword should appear early in your headline, you need to make sure your description is relevant to the content on the page. The snippet has to match the information that is being provided on the other side of the link, or you can experience lower results for a lack of matching.

Placing some extra care into your descriptions directly relates to choosing and pushing your keyword strategy. You know what keywords you want to rank for and you can further integrate these words into your strategy by placing them properly in meta descriptions.

Outside of just inserting the right keywords, there are also rich snippets that you can consider as well. Rich snippets include a picture or thumbnail video next to the text of the snippet and the link on the search page. Visuals tend to attract more visitors because they stand out more from the other listings and results on the page. They also are a sign of authority on Google.

In addition to being more bold and attractive to potential customers, rich snippets also help you propose a clear and unique objective, thus giving you a competitive edge. It’s essentially a way for customers to know why you are superior to your competition and ranking higher than they do. Rich snippets put the value of the product out there right away for your customers. These rich snippets can include a link to reviews, the price, the availability and more. The benefit here is that you get, essentially, more accurate analytics because more people are likely to click through and complete a purchase with so much information out there without having to leave the results page. They are only clicking on a result to make a purchase. It helps to increase your click-through rate and makes those clicks even more qualified to become potential customers.

The use of meta descriptions can take your digital marketing and SEO efforts to another level, especially if you are able to give the most effective information up front and use the right keywords so you can build your rankings.

At Genius eCommerce, we know the ins and outs of SEO and the trends that keep it moving in a positive direction. We want our tips to help keep you informed and ready for the changes that happen in SEO over the years. So keep reading the Genius eCommerce blog and stay up to date on all the latest SEO and digital marketing trends and tips.