Ranking high on search engines is a must to increase sales through your website.  Studies show between 70% to 80% of buyers begin their purchasing decision with search engines.   That is HUGE!  But this post is not about how to rank high on search engines.  Its about how to get searchers to click to your website once you rank high.

The description tag to the rescue!  If you have a great description more people will click on your search listing.  Google shows the first 150 characters of the description so make it a good one.

Here is what a good description looks like in Google:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my example, I searched for “Fine DSLR  Camera Bag”.   Onabags.com ranked #2 and the description communicates it is a high-quality bag that is durable. This will get my click.  Just above the Onabags.com listing, was an Etsy.com listing (see below) but the description did not provide value.
Full disclosure: OnaBags.com is a client of mine.

 

 

 

 

The long string of DSLR terms is not telling me it’s a fine camera bag.  And the “Leather Cute Owl”…well.. something about that does not convey a fine bag.

Major tip – each page on your site should be optimized for a different search term. That means each page has a unique description.

Are you ready to check your website? Here is a quick checklist.

1. Do I have a unique description tag on each page?

2. Are my descriptions compelling? Because it is my 2-second sales pitch and call to action on search engines!

3. Is the description equal to or less than 150 characters?

4. Does the meta description match the search term for which the web page is optimized?

5. Does it compel searchers to click on my link?

6. The Title Tag is just as important as the description so give it some love.

How did you do?  If you said yes to #1 you are off to a good start.

Some technical notes about meta descriptions…for the techie in you:

1. If you don’t fill out the meta description tag, Google will simply use content from your website.

2. If you use WordPress, the All In One SEO plugin let’s you add a meta description tag on each page.

3. If you have an HTML site, you can manually add using the following code:

<meta name=”description” content=”This is my meta description which will influence the searcher to click on my link and go to my wonderful website.” />

4. If you don’t care about these technical notes and you don’t have meta descriptions, hire a web developer today!

Share other great tips for getting people to click on your search engine listing.