How to Write Effective Meta Descriptions for Your Rental Website

If you’ve looked into SEO, you’ve undoubtedly come across meta descriptions and found that they’re pretty challenging to get right. Of course, you could be working hard and doing fantastic with other aspects of marketing and SEO, but this one is something that’s a bit more difficult. So, let’s look at what a meta description is and how you can write compelling descriptions.

What is a meta description?

Essentially, a meta description is the summary of a page on your website. It’s the snippet that shows underneath your page titles in Google Search. Usually, it will be around 155 characters long and include keywords relating to your business and products. However, unlike other SEO elements, they don’t play a significant role in your search ranking.

Meta descriptions are there to entice users to click on your website instead of other results. They are still an effective part of SEO, and if you get it right, they can result in more traffic than if you let Google auto-fill it for you. This is because they act as a promise to users that’s you have what they’re looking for on your website.

Writing effective meta descriptions

When it comes to writing meta descriptions, it makes sense to look at what other websites do and how you can emulate their success. This can make the process seem very simple, but therein lies the difficulty of writing meta descriptions. The simplicity and limit of around 160 characters mean that you need to get information across in as few words as possible.

So, what makes a good meta description? The best ones will give a clear and concise overview of what the page is about. They back up the title tag and give users a compelling reason to click on your website. It’s a process that happens so quickly in a user’s mind that you need to play into their desires, or they will move on equally fast.

Of course, not all meta descriptions are equal. For example, your homepage will be the most complicated one to write. This is because you have to encapsulate your entire vision and experience in slightly more characters than the old Tweet limit. However, product page descriptions are easier to write as they are about something much more specific.

Meanwhile, if you use category pages on your website, the purpose is to get people on your site who are searching for broader search terms. For example, they may not be looking for a specific product in a particular area, and they just want to browse and see their options. So, for these pages, you need to fill your meta descriptions with relevant broader keywords.

The most important thing to think about is user intent when they’re searching for the products or services that you offer. So, for the homepage, the search term is likely to be something like “camera rentals Sydney” and for a product page it’s more likely to be “Canon EOS 5D rentals”. In the former, they are doing a more general search to see what’s available in a certain area, whereas in the latter, they are looking to rent a specific product.

How to write great meta descriptions

By now, you should have a better understanding of meta descriptions and what you should be looking for in them. But, what are the best ways for your to apply this knowledge to your website? Well, there are six things you need to keep in mind when writing great meta descriptions:

• Customer mindset - You should ask what the page offers and why someone should rent from you. This is simple for product pages, but it can be more difficult for other pages.
• USPs - What makes your business different from the others in your area? Maybe you have faster service or more affordable prices. Backing up your offer with your USP is crucial.
• Length - Remember, you only have around 155 characters to get enough information across to get someone to click, so you need to put the most important text at the beginning.
• Keep it actionable - Great meta descriptions are clear and concise. They shouldn’t use too many adjectives or fancy words because they require more processing for the reader, and you want a quick reaction.
• Include a CTA - You should try to include something that users can do when they visit your website. Depending on the page, this could be “discover more,” “book now,” or “browse our products.” These are called CTAs or calls to action.
• Stay on target - One of the most important things to keep in mind is your target keyword, and it must be included in your meta descriptions.

A caveat

Not to discourage you from working on your meta descriptions, but it has been found that Google rewrites them 63% of the time. However, there is an excellent reason why you should continue to write your own. If your target keywords are relevant and being searched for enough, Google will use your meta description to be more appropriate than what it would generate.

As a result, you need to prioritize your most trafficked pages, like your homepage and most popular product pages. These are where putting effort into your meta descriptions is more likely to pay off. So, get started and make them as strong as they can be. You’ll be surprised at the results you will see going from average meta descriptions to great meta descriptions.