What Are Meta Descriptions and Title Tags?

If you look at any search results page, for any query within Google, you’ll see meta descriptions and title tags for every page served.

The title and meta description used to be major ranking factors for local pages, and they still are very important, but for other reasons. For local businesses that want to squeeze more traffic out of their competitors the best way to think of setting these up is as follows.

Title tags and meta descriptions are best set to induce a click-through over your competitors

Using the example of iPhone repair, we can assume most people searching for this term would be in a rush to get their device fixed fast and without going out of their way.

The site above has a great title iPhone Repair Philadelphia – Same Day Service. These both satisfy Google by letting them know it’s a service local to Philadelphia, as well as seducing a click from prospective searchers by mentioning Same Day Service. Someone scrolling through the results knows right away we stand out because we can get their phone fixed right away – no waiting, no inconvenience, and local to their area.

What About Meta Descriptions?

The text underneath the blue title is the meta description and like the title, is set on a page by page basis. The homepage would have one description, while an inner page, maybe for a local service would have a different title and meta description. Similar to your title tag, you should write the descriptions to fit into the 160 character limit and seduce a user to click through to your site over your competitors.

Meta descriptions should also be written like title tags in that they should not be over-optimized but should include lots of synonyms that would bring in related search terms.

Google Is Your Friend – Yes, Really

The value in having an experienced search professional set up your meta descriptions and title tags properly is immense. For certain long-tail search terms, Google will proactively re-write your meta descriptions and based on the content and headings on your page. Check out my video below where I go over real-life case studies of how this works and how it can give you a competitive advantage over your local competitors.

In my opinion, this is one of the easiest wins for a local service business. By understanding your potential clients needs and crafting the title and meta descriptions accordingly, you stand out and make it much easier for a prospective client to get on your site.

Once they are there, the conversion still needs to happen, but getting them through the door so to speak.

If you haven’t put this much thought into your titles and meta’s feel free to reach out to us, we’d love to take a quick look and let you know what can be improved and help your local business get some momentum and crush your competitors.