\u201cOptimise meta titles and meta descriptions on your website\u201d is a common SEO tip for a more search-engine friendly website and higher search engine rankings.<\/p>\n
However, is that advice still valid? More specifically, do meta descriptions still affect search engine rankings?<\/p>\n
There has always been some debate around this topic.\u00a0 Modern-day SEOs have believed that meta descriptions no longer matter as a search engine ranking factor. On the other hand, traditional SEO professionals still believe that meta descriptions can affect search engine rankings as they provide an opportunity to include primary and semantically related keywords.<\/p>\n
Google\u2019s John Mueller recently clarified how meta descriptions work, and the answer lies somewhere in between.<\/p>\n
According to Google\u2019s documentation, meta descriptions are used for generating search results snippets.<\/p>\n
But what purpose does it serve?<\/p>\n
The primary purpose of a meta description is to communicate to search engine users what a web page is about, so they have a fair bit of idea of what to expect if they click on a search result and land on that website.<\/p>\n
Simply put, it is supposed to be a brief \u201cdescription\u201d of a web page.<\/p>\n
Google also says that there is no limit on how long a meta description can be, but there is a limit \u2014 based on the user\u2019s device and browser \u2014 on many characters Google would show on the SERPs.<\/p>\n
Last but not least, Google advises that each page should have a unique meta description. Duplicate meta descriptions may hurt your website\u2019s search engine rankings.<\/p>\n
During a recent session of Google Search Central SEO Office Hours, one person asked if adding the location name in the meta description would help search engine rankings.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes adding the location name in the meta description matter to Google in terms of ranking if the content quality is maintained?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Google\u2019s John Mueller responded by saying, \u201cThe meta description is primarily used as a snippet in the search results page. And that\u2019s not something that we would use for ranking.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n However, John further elaborated that a well-thought-out meta description can help with organic click-through rates.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, obviously, having a good snippet on a search results page can make it more interesting for people to actually visit your page when they see your page ranking in the search results.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n For local businesses who want to follow the best SEO practices, we recommend the following tips:<\/p>\nMeta description tips for local businesses<\/h2>\n