How To Write Blog Descriptions That Get Clicked

Are you not sure how to write a blog description, or are you wondering why you should even write one?

Summarising your blog post in just one or two sentences can be tricky, but if you know what to focus on, it won’t be as hard.

Keep reading to find out my top tips on writing blog post meta descriptions that make you stand out in Google’s search results and will increase your click though rate.

Let’s get started!

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What is a blog description?

A blog description, also known as a blog post meta description, is the text that shows up in the search results under your website link.

This is what it looks like:

You can create blog meta descriptions for your website pages and posts.

A blog post meta description is not to be confused with a blog post excerpt or summary.

If you write your blog posts on Blogger or WordPress, you’ve probably come across a box where you can fill out your blog post description or summary.

In WordPress it’s called a blog post excerpt and you can find it in your post editor side bar. It looks like this:

This excerpt is not the same thing as a meta description, the difference is:

“An excerpt is a slice of text; often found below the blog posts, followed by a “read more” link.

A meta-description is put into the head section of your page. It’s used to describe to search engines and other sites what your site is about.

They are not the same thing, though they may contain the same text.”

According to Josh Miller on Quora

What is the purpose of a blog description

The purpose of your blog description is to make your blog post stand out in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) and to encourage people to click through.

To increase the click through rate to your blog post it’s important to make your blog description as compelling and interesting as possible.

You can encourage click throughs by:

• Including Keywords – Be clear what your blog post is about by using relevant keywords.
• Adding Power Words – Create urgency or excitement by using words like: quickly, easy, the best, proven, fast, etc.
• Being Personal – Draw your readers in by speaking to them directly by using the word “you”.
• Including A Call To Action – Encourage your reader to take action by telling them what to do next.

Does your blog description help your SEO ranking?

Your blog description doesn’t directly impact on your SEO and won’t make your blog post rank higher in search engines.

This doesn’t mean your blog meta description is not important though, because it can definitely help your SEO ranking indirectly by:

• Encouraging Click Throughs – A well written meta description is more likely to get click-throughs. More clicks means more traffic and more popularity in Google’s eyes.
• Showing Relevance – If your description is relevant to your blog post content, someone is likely to stay on your blog to read your post. This will result in a lower bounce rate which will help your Google ranking.
• Allowing Your Post To Stand Out – When someone searches for your topic in Google and types in keywords that you use in your description, these keywords will show up bold in your description. This will help your blog post stand out in the search results.

What is the ideal length of a meta description?

Meta description length has varied over the last few years but as of 2021 the optimal length for your Meta descriptions 155 characters or less.

Ideally your meta description is long enough to be sufficiently descriptive and summarises your blog post topic and encourages your reader to click through.

Search engines such as Google, Bing, Yandex and others, tend to cut off your blog meta description after 155 characters so it’s best to stay below this number.

How to add a meta description to your blog

Let’s look at how to add a meta description in Blogger and in WordPress.org.

Blogger

In Blogger, you can add a meta description for your entire blog by going to Settings > Search Preferences > Meta Tags > Description. Click Edit to enter your blog description.

To change the meta description for individual posts or pages, go to your Post Editor > Post Settings > Search Description.

WordPress.org

The default installation of WordPress.org doesn’t include meta description data. Some WordPress themes (Genesis for example) will have an SEO section below each post or page.

If your theme doesn’t have an SEO section, I recommend installing the free Yoast SEO plugin.

This plugin adds an SEO section below each post and page and will give you tips on how to optimise your SEO.

It looks like this:

How to Write A Blog Description

It can be challenging to come up with a concise blog description that will stand out and make people want to click through to read more.

Here are some tips for writing a good blog post meta description:

1. Keep it short

Google only shows the first 155 characters of your blog post description, this is why you need to keep it short and only convey the most important points about your post.

2. Use keywords

Use your blog post’s main keywords. Even though the meta description doesn’t help you rank higher in search engines, all searched keywords will show up bold, which will help your post stand out.

3. Use LSI keywords

LSI stands for Latent Semantic Indexing. LSI keywords are words and phrases that are related to your primary keyword. For example: if your blog post is about pottery, LSI keywords would be: clay, pottery wheel, kiln, glaze etc.

If you use LSI keywords in your meta description, they will show up bold if someone has included these keywords in their search query.

4. Use power words

Power words are those words that will give your reader that extra push to click through to your post.

Can you promise your reader that your content will make their problem easy to solve? Then add the word easy. People love things that are either quick or easy, so if your content is sure to solve someone’s problem quickly or easily make sure to let them know.

If the problem you solve is not quick or easy, make sure your post is thorough and easy to follow. For these type of posts you could add power words like:

• the complete guide to…
• step by step
• in depth
• for absolute beginners

Other examples of power words are:

• bargain
• bonus
• extra
• instantly
• last chance
• massive
• new
• now
• skyrocket
• quadruple
• ultimate
• value

5. Be personal

Draw your reader in by talking directly to them and using words like “you” and “I”.

Here’s an example:

6. Summarise your blog post

Make sure to summarise the main topic of your post. This will ensure that your audience gets the content they’re expecting and will result in a lower bounce rate.

7. No Keyword Stuffing

Although it’s good to use keywords and LSI keywords, there is no need to repeat keywords or stuff as many keywords in as possible. Your main goal is to make your meta description easy to read for your audience and give them a reason to click through to your site.

8. Add a call to action

Encourage your audience to click through to your blog with a call to action.

Examples of these are:

• Find out more
• Check out these…
• Click to learn more
• Shop now

9. Create several drafts

Don’t settle for the first blog description you write. Write several drafts so you can choose the best one.

Blog Meta Description Examples

Let’s have a look at some good blog meta description examples.

The Blonde Abroad

This is a great meta description that shows brand authority by mentioning their brand name and using the words “award-winning”.  It also uses important keywords like: solo female travel blog, travel tips and packing guides.

Making Sense Of Cents

Another good meta description that makes it very clear what this blog is about by including several important keywords for this niche.

Cookie and Kate

Here’s another great example. Even though it’s a bit short, it includes highly relevant keywords like “healthy food blog”, “whole foods” and “vegetarian recipes”, and by using the word “celebrates” it creates an inviting atmosphere that encourages clicks.

This is how you write a blog description

I hope these tips have helped you understand blog descriptions better and you now know how to write blog descriptions that encourage clicks to your blog!

If you want to learn more about optimising your blog posts for search engines so you can get found in Google, make sure to read this post:

SEO for Bloggers – The Essential Guide