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How to Boost Your Search Ranking with Strong Meta Data

How to Boost Your Search Ranking with Strong Meta Data

Meta Data Blog ImageReading Time: 3 minutes

We understand the impatience. It’s challenging enough to create a business and direct your energies toward marketing yourself online. Now you have to worry about SEO?!   

It’s true that optimisation has become an art and enterprise unto itself. You’ve got to move through a lengthy checklist of steps to even get your website seen. Among them, metadata is an essential consideration.

But take a breath. Herd Marketing gives you the guidance and resources to tackle this task with ease. It’s important to understand that you’re not trying to trick or satisfy the Google algorithm. You’re simply telling it precisely what it needs to know.

Think of metadata as the DNA code that distinguishes your business within the digital ecosystem. Your job isn’t to fake it, but allow it to be the supportive expression of who you are. 

So what exactly is metadata?

It’s essentially the collection of signposts that live beneath the surface of your webpages. Metadata instructs search engines on HOW to summarise and display your website on a results page. It’s the billboard stating: here’s the town you’re about to enter — don’t miss THESE attractions. Once a search engine understands what you’re all about, it can point users in your direction. Think of your metadata tag like a flexible library call number. Because you design it yourself, you’re less likely to be misshelved.

Meta Titles — All About the Ranking 

Prioritise meta titles! These little one-line labels position you within the search ranking and can drastically up your traffic. Your website might contain a variety of pages that each highlight different aspects of your business. For each page, you’ll want to create a very specific metadata title that encapsulates the page within a concise number of characters. (In one of our most recent articles we talk about How PPC Can Enhance your Approach to SEO and we cover how to use data from paid ads to influence meta data titles and descriptions).

Imagine an individual webpage as a cardboard box you’re placing into storage. If you were to take a black sharpie marker, what words would you jot as a quick indicator of its contents? What inside differentiates it from all the other boxes?

A meta title often mirrors the main heading of a particular webpage. Imagine what your customer is likely to type into a search bar — this is the phrasing a search engine will match. You should firstly incorporate one or two key terms that signal what the content actually is. Then, whenever possible, you should also include the name of your company. Search engines take in data from left to right, so one strategy is to place your primary key word first in the line-up, and then place your brand at the end. For example:

<title>Principal Keyword — Strong Supporting Phrase — Brand Name</title>

Lead with the principal keyword, follow with a compelling phrase, and end with your business name. Keep in mind that Google will only display about 50 or 60 characters, so title accordingly! Earn the ranking you deserve and spur that customer engagement.

Meta Descriptions — All About the Click

Next, you’ll write your meta description. Like meta titles, this description isn’t visible on the site itself. Users encounter it on the search engine results page underneath your meta title. This tweet-sized blurb gives you a little more room to summarize your page and tease its offerings.

Whatever the length of your description, Google will always shorten it to roughly 155 characters. Again, you’re going for concision. But because a meta description doesn’t influence rank, you have a bit more leniency and creative freedom. You should consider phrases that aid and entice users, but there’s no need to cram in extraneous keywords. Instead, treat your meta description as a place for worthwhile messaging. It functions as free ad space, a friendly note to potential customers, and a clear summary of the particular page.

Why Metadata Matters

At the end of the day, metadata allows people to find you. It puts your business onto the map, into the directory, and inside of people’s minds. These details ensure that search engines see each page of your website as singular and distinct. 

Poor metadata is among the first things an SEO audit will flag. If you’re looking for additional help with this and other optimisation tasks, Herd Marketing is on hand to assist. We help you craft the most apt and accurate tags that compel a user to click.

The moment users and search engines know who you are, you’ll begin to receive more visitors which, in turn, will further boost your ranking. Your Google rank is one of your most powerful promotional tools, so be sure to make the most of it!

We hope you have found some value in this article and if you have thoughts, comments or suggestions please do share them in box below.

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