Here’s What You Need to Know About Meta Description Length

When working with our marketing customers at Joseph Studios, we try our best not to geek out about too much of the nitty-gritty behind the scenes. We do, however, like to keep them in the know about the different tactics we are using to keep them on top and ahead of their competitors in a way that they can easily understand. This brings us to the importance of meta descriptions and how they can help leverage descriptions to achieve better rankings. 

Remember – I promise not to geek out on this.

What is a meta description?

The results of a keyword search provide a long list of results or “hits.” Each hit has a meta title and a link to get to the page. Below is a snippet from the content on that page to give you a taste of what’s to come and a look into how it relates to the keywords in your search. The goal is for this tiny bit of information to be “enough” to attract the searcher to your website to read more. How exactly is that accomplished? Read on, for we’re about to describe this meta description strategy for you.

Does a meta description help SEO at all?

For my best “in a nutshell” description, search engine optimization (SEO) is achieved through a combination of the content and activities (visits and duration of visit) on your website. Google has an algorithm taking all of this into account, and that is what determines your ranking on those search results. 

The meta description in and of itself does nothing to secure your place in the line of search results ***except*** be the right description to get the attention of the searcher to click through to your website. It is the clicking through, and their browsing around that gives your website activity a bump. The meta description just got them there in the first place, so there IS value in that meta description!

So by people clicking through to your site, Google’s algorithm is noticing this and taking note of their clicking and the search phrase. Google is learning and making those connections between the query and your content. This association will be matched to future queries, making your website content a legit listing when Google gets another similar search. This action is what moves your content and your company ranking up higher on the list each time this occurs. Isn’t artificial intelligence awesome?

While Google is king for algorithms, other search engines work in similar ways, making those connections between your website content and click-through actions from every search query that occurs. With this in mind, you want to make sure that meta description has valuable information to grab readers’ attention and want to learn more.

What is the ideal meta description length?

The easy answer to this one is a meta description that can be read entirely. Officially, a meta description “can” be up to around 300 characters. That doesn’t mean that all 300 characters are seen by those searching. For instance, a search conducted by a tablet or phone will see far less than a search from a PC. This makes your available characters to get your point across on that list of hits much smaller. Try to get your meta description length down to about 120 characters. We say this because that is the number of characters that will display on a mobile device and 58% of all searches come from mobile devices. A tablet can see around 150 characters. 

What about other search engines?

No disrespect to the makers of search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and the others, but you always hear about Google’s search engine, ratings, and algorithms. These other search engines do have their own ranking means and algorithms, as well. Google has managed to be the king of all search engines, with 90% of all search volume conducted on Google above all others.  When it comes to meta description length, Bing and Yahoo can hold around 168 characters on a desktop.

With this in mind, you should resist the urge to take up all 300 characters for your meta description with 42% of those viewing unable to see it all. If the first 120 characters don’t make sense, they can pass you over and never even look.  If you can keep your meta description to a meaningful 120 characters for a mobile device, your meta description is ultimately viewable any search engine and any device. This will help with more successful click-throughs creating a positive impact on your SEO.

Focus on your audience

Now that you understand that the meta description is to attract live humans instead of appeasing algorithms, concentrate on your audience without the stress of fitting in those keywords in such a short space. Give your audience an accurate description of the content they will find on your page. Think of it as a tiny sales pitch that your website is just what they’ve been looking for in their search.

Think of three words when writing your meta descriptions: short, sweet, and useful. Your goal is now solely focused on your audience.

Check your meta description length before posting

Now, before you put a finger to the screen counting characters, there are tools to do this much easier than that! First of all, you can do the same on Google Docs or MS Word on the bottom of the screen (if you didn’t know that already). 

Check with your website’s content management system for a tool. There may be a perfect plugin for that. WordPress, for example, has the Yoast plugin. Yoast enables you to update the meta title, meta description, and your URL slug to the keywords and content. Other platforms such as Wix may require you to edit these details through the HTML code directly. It’s worth a look around to see if there is a tool out there for you.

Here are a few sites for free meta description analysis for those of you not using Yoast. 

• EZ Local
• SEOMoFo
• Spotibo

Just like all of your content, you are looking to connect with your audience, and it starts with the meta description to get their attention. The rest is for you to shine with their undivided attention!

Applying the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) to your marketing strategy

Where strategy stalls

Whether it be an enterprise strategy or a marketing strategy, it remains a collection of pretty papers until it goes into action. That’s exactly what I have to share with you today. I’ve seen many plans created that fell short of meeting their goals because the execution was flawed. This flaw is usually due to the lack of communication, meaning those below senior leadership were unaware of the plan so didn’t know what or how to get it rolling.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX)

4DX is a set of practices that brings a strategy to life! These disciplines have been tested and refined by countless organizations over many years. They are designed to move the needle forward a little at a time to move all teams forward toward their most (wildly) important goals. The disciplines are simple ones. Some may think them too simple to matter but never doubt the tremendous power these disciplines have in action.

Discipline 1: Focus on the wildly important

One of the disciplines we focus on with 4DX is to focus on only one or two wildly important goals (WIG) at a time. Too many times, we have so many ideas and goals swimming in our heads that we try to accomplish them all at the same time. What happens is that we may get some of them. Maybe most of them to a mediocre degree. Mediocrity is not a goal in 4DX, so we strive for more on focusing on less. Your chances of achieving a couple of goals with excellence are very high, but the more you juggle, the less likely you are to reach them. With a heightened focus on fewer items, not only is excellence probable, but also at a faster rate.

When you define your wig, you want to identify where you are now, where you want to be, and by when.  Here is an example.
We want to get our SEO results from the fifth page to the first page by January 1, 2020.

Discipline 2: Act on the lead measures

In 4DX there are two kinds of measures that we give our attention:

Lag measures

These are the measures that say whether or not you were successful. Notice I say this in the past tense. This tense is because the action is in the past, so not additional actions can be taken for these results. It is too late, yet we lose sleep over these results regularly. Why do you think that is when there is nothing you can do once the result occurs?

In our example, the lag measure will be the placement or ranking on a Google keyword search.

Lead measures

Lead measures are the ones we have control over. Lead measures are what track the activities that drive the lag measure. These actions can predict the success of the lag measure by the direct influence of the team.

Another detail about lead measures is that we are looking at short-term actions for short-term goals. The small goals bundle together to move the needle to success. Let’s put our two steps together:
WIG: We want to get our SEO results from the fifth page to the first page by January 1, 2020
Our example leads to measures: 

• Website content will have a 1.5% concentration of searchable keywords
• Weekly blogs of 1000 words about relative and interesting content
• Weekly emails with a call to action directing the readers to the website
• 30 social media posts weekly
• 40 or more backlinks monthly

All of these actions can easily be measured and will directly affect the lag measure of the SEO results.

Discipline 3: Keep a compelling scoreboard

Before I tell you why this is so important, let’s picture some neighborhood kids on the cul de sac with a basketball and a hoop. They are bouncing around a little bit and talking smack. They aren’t playing a serious game, but they are taking turns shooting. It’s no big deal – until someone is keeping score. All of a sudden, the kids start breaking a sweat and playing for keeps. Why is that? It’s simple:

People play differently when they are keeping score, and scoreboards motivate players to win.
Of course, the team needs to know whether they are winning or losing at all times! How would they otherwise see if they must change course or push full-steam ahead?

A scoreboard measuring SEO may have a weekly entry with the current position or the team and everyone else in the company to see. It will be displayed with the prior weeks to show the ongoing progress (lag measures). Even if we are failing, everyone will know. We won’t let that failure last very long, though, because we have another discipline.

Discipline 4: Create a cadence of accountability

The team must be accountable for themselves, and in doing so, engages in a brief weekly meeting (cadence) as part of the process to note and celebrate successes, analyze failures, and correct course immediately upon identification of any barriers. This cadence keeps the team pointed in the right direction.

Part of the cadence includes commitments by each team member that contributes to the lead measures (that result in the lag measure). These commitments are above and beyond their regular job duties, so only one or two are necessary each week to move the needle forward.
“What are the one or two most important things I can do this week that will have the biggest impact on our scoreboard?”

Each team member will have a different answer to this question. In the meeting, each team member will report on the success or failure of meeting their commitment, then what their commitment will be for the next week. Again, little steps are all it takes to make a significant change, and the meeting time is usually 15-30 minutes. With the cadence, the team celebrates and troubleshoots together.

Our cadence to our customers

Whether in marketing or operations, the disciplines of 4DX bring a team by way of small, achievable steps to meeting their wildly important goal. At Joseph Studios, we provide a monthly performance report to our customers to show them how each of their marketing campaigns has fared and recommend a change in course when it will benefit the results of our client. We also have regular cadence within the team to keep our individual goals (lead measures) with our client results (lag measures). How much attention do you think your company is getting by your marketing team? Contact us at Joseph Studios to see what a white-glove treatment looks like when you become one of our clients.

Top things to focus on when shopping for an online marketing

Believe it or not, not all companies have an in-house marketing department, but it doesn’t stop them from having fantastic marketing results from winning strategies. How can that be? Who has time to run their business and marketing? If you have been marketing your business to the point of growing too big to handle the marketing anymore, it is time for a change, but know that it doesn’t have to be a new full-time employee that you aren’t ready for, budget-wise. The answer to these winning marketing strategies for companies large and small are the marketing agencies behind them. These agencies create customized strategies for their clients and handle all of the details of execution so their clients can continue focusing on growing their business and serving their customers. 

The good news for your business is that with today’s technology, your geographical location does not dictate your availability of resources. The internet opens you to some of the best marketing agencies in the US. Joseph Studios in Atlanta, GA, for instance, serves clients around the globe.  With the good news of having the top marketing agencies at your fingertips, the selection can be overwhelming. As you start seeking out the perfect match to represent your company, we offer three things to keep in consideration as you begin shopping for an online marketing agency.

What services do they offer?

There are marketing agencies that specialize in specific services and others that are full-service agencies. Which one is best depends on your needs? For instance, if all you want is to shoot a video commercial to air on television, then a specialist in video production marketing might be a perfect choice. If you are interested in extending your reach across social media, email, blogs, and your internet presence overall to boost your search engine optimization (SEO) to get noticed, then the one-stop convenience a full-service marketing agency is the better solution. These full-service agencies have relationships with video specialists and can coordinate efforts on your behalf.

Great online marketing agencies will jump right in to understand your business and your goals. Once achieved, they can create a stronger strategy that brings in a variety of marketing services to expand your reach. For instance, if you have a goal to be noticed better in online searches, your agency will recommend steps to increase your brand awareness and online presence. You could hire one agency to handle your SEO, hire an independent blog writer, and bring in an intern to navigate social media on your behalf. A full-service agency will not only handle every one of those details but will also synch them to deliver a consistent message across the different platforms and have them complement each other in the process. At the same time, a full-service agency is likely to be more affordable than hiring three specialists. An experienced agency can create customized packages for your business to meet your needs and your budget.

What have they done lately?

We’re talking about results. As you start to make a connection with a marketing agency and like what they have shown you so far, the next question to ask is about some specific examples of how they achieved excellent results for another client. If they have no results to offer, consider this a red flag, for they would be proud to share their success with you otherwise. Another warning sign is if you get an unrealistic promise like a hundred new clients by tomorrow. If it sounds too good to be true, well, you know the rest, and it’s an excellent opportunity to challenge them to offer an example where they’ve gotten those same results before you commit your budget to their idea. Reputable marketing agencies have reports and real examples ready and available to share with you to show consistent success with their ideas. Reporting on marketing performance should be a common practice for them to be able to demonstrate to you how your marketing budget is making an impact and holds the marketing agency accountable as a tool for the continued results of your strategy.

Who is behind the curtain?

Who is handling the work behind your marketing strategy? Is it a single person doing it all, and how well are they keeping up with everything? As their agency grows, what is the likelihood that your level of service will be the same as it is when they are small? For a full-service agency, you want to see a crackerjack team of dedicated writers, strategists, social media experts with influencer relationships, graphics specialists, and a project manager to keep the team aligned with their tasks and goals.   

At the same time, a full-service marketing agency remains in communication with you about pending deliverables, updates, obstacles, and results. You want to know who you can contact for any reason, and your agency should be able to answer any questions you have for them. The relationship should be a strong partnership of communication and confidence that your agency meets all of your needs.

Keep these in mind, too

How does the marketing agency’s self-marketing look? An online marketing agency should be putting their best foot forward and make an impression with every service they offer. Conduct a keyword google search and see how close they are to the front. Check their presence on social media and their level of interaction with their audience. 

Do they invoke leadership in the industry? Are they thought-leaders? The best online marketing agencies promote their practices in their industry. Check for a blog page promoting ideas for their communities. Check their involvement with the marketing community. Do they have any awards? Don’t be afraid to research their team members’ backgrounds and learn more about the value that they bring to the company. That value will be making its way to your marketing strategy.  

Expand your search. The internet has removed many boundaries of your talent search for a marketing agency. At the same time, marketing agencies embracing remote functionality have adopted the same benefits by identifying talent across the globe to work together on virtual teams. You no longer have to reside in a big city to bring the best talent to start working on getting your brand noticed. This advancement literally brings the world to your fingertips. Enjoy the experience without limits!