Breaking Down Meta Descriptions: What I Learned By Analyzing 500 Websites

If you’re serious about SEO, you probably spend time thinking about your target audience, researching keywords, and brainstorming ways to rank higher in search results.

But when’s the last time you thought about meta descriptions?

The truth is, a great meta description can supercharge your SEO efforts. I found this out first-hand after analyzing 500 top websites in the news, e-commerce, education, tech, and health industries.

A web page that includes a thoughtful and strategic meta description tends to achieve a higher click-through rate and drive more organic traffic. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

In this article I’ll answer questions like, “What’s a meta description?” and “Why are meta descriptions important?” and even “How do I write a unique meta description that improves my SEO?” Then I’ll share information about the top websites in the world and their approach to meta description text.

Sound like a plan? Then let’s get started!

Everything You Need to Know About Meta Descriptions

Before we dig into my meta description data, let’s make sure we understand the basics.

What are meta descriptions? Why are they important? And how can one start writing meta descriptions that help catapult their content to the top of the search engine results page?

Here’s what you need to know:

What Is a Meta Description?

A meta description is an HTML element that summarizes a webpage’s content, and is displayed to users via search engine results. You might hear it referred to as a “meta description tag” or “meta tag“.

Type a word or phrase into Google—or any of the other search engines you prefer. Then scroll through the results. What do you see? Unless you typed in a completely obscure search term, you see a list of links, each of which leads to a specific web page.

Said links include a title tag, three dots leading to additional information, and a line or two of text. This text is what we refer to as the meta description.

What’s a Meta Description Example?

It’s easier to understand information when you can see it with your own eyeballs. With that in mind, here’s a quick meta description example that will display in search engines:

As you can see, the meta description tag for my website is, “Enhance your SEO strategies with exclusive research-driven insights, blending scientific rigor with digital marketing expertise, tailored for professionals…“

Now, you might be thinking, “That’s great, Marko. I’m glad your website has a meta description. But how does this apply to me and my company’s SEO strategy?” Let’s talk about that…

Why Are Meta Descriptions Important for SEO?

I’ll start by saying this: most search engines say that your page’s meta description doesn’t directly impact SEO performance. In other words, Google, Bing, etc. don’t use it as a ranking factor.

But that doesn’t mean you can ignore your meta description altogether. In fact, doing so would be a serious error. Why? Because of this little thing called click-through rate (CTR).

In our case, CTR is an important marketing metric that measures the number of people who click on a website divided by the number of people who see it in search results. It is most definitely a ranking factor. And guess what—a good meta description can increase your CTR!

It makes sense when you think about it. Users type search queries into Google to see websites that correlate to the terms. But which website should they click on? A great meta description will show users your site has the information they need—especially if it includes a target keyword.

There’s one more thing we need to talk about: Google rewrites meta descriptions all the time. There are multiple reasons for this, but not a ton you can do about it. Still, work to write unique meta descriptions that entice users to click. Doing so will benefit your site if they’re used.

How Do I Write Better Meta Descriptions?

The right meta description will increase search traffic to your site. The question is, how do you write one that people actually want to click on? Use these five tips to level up your approach:

Make Your Meta Description Enticing

First things first, make sure your meta description makes users want to view your content. How do you do this? You make your product pages, blog posts, etc. sound awesome.

By showing people how your content will benefit them, you’ll encourage users to click. (Just don’t over promise. You should always write an accurate description. That way users aren’t disappointed after reading your copy.)

Include Your Keyword in Your Meta Tag

Have you taken the time to optimize your on page content for target keywords? If so, use each page’s primary keyword in your meta descriptions.

Search engines like Google will highlight them, which will help entice users to click through to your website. After all, if they see words that match their search queries—or at least their search intent—they’ll know that your content has the answers they seek.

(No keyword stuffing! Use your target keyword in realistic ways or your CTR will plummet.)

Add a CTA to Your Meta Description Field

A good meta description tag encourages users to do something. In other words, the best meta tags include calls-to-action (CTAs).

Fortunately, CTAs are easy to add when writing meta descriptions. Simply end your text with a phrase like “learn more” or “buy now” or “start your free trial now“. 

Pay Attention to Meta Description Length

As we discussed, your own meta descriptions should be enticing, include each page’s primary keyword, and feature a CTA. Just make sure that you accomplish all these things in about 140 to 160 characters.

That’s not a lot of space for a page description, which is why you need to get creative. When in doubt, air on the side of caution and shorten your meta description; don’t lengthen it.

Always Strive for a Unique Meta Description

Repeat after me: duplicate meta descriptions will hamper my SEO strategy.

What are duplicate meta descriptions, you ask? Simple, they’re meta tags that appear multiple times. You do not want to use one meta description for many web pages.

If you do, Google and the other search engines might think your content is low quality. This will make it harder for said content to rank.

A Few Details About This Analysis

Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, let’s talk about my meta description analysis:

The first thing you need to know is that I studied a total of 500 websites in five specific categories: news, e-commerce, education, tech, and health. Said websites were chosen using keywords like “world news,” “buy online,” “tech reviews,” and “best healthy recipes“.

The second thing you need to know is that I conducted this analysis manually. I didn’t have time to check each site’s privacy manual to see what was allowed and what wasn’t. So I played it safe and avoided questionable techniques like web scraping to acquire data.

The third thing you need to know is that this analysis was done on websites that rank worldwide. It’s not country-specific, so the information shared below should be useful to everyone.

And finally, if you want all the data I collected for this meta description study, I’m happy to give it to you. Just sign up for my mailing list so I know where to send the spreadsheets.

Does all of that make sense? Great, let’s dive into the actual analysis!

Meta Description Facts: Analysis of 500 Top Websites

Okay, what did I learn during this meta description analysis? Quite a lot, actually…

The average number of characters across all meta descriptions for top ranking websites is about 147. The highest character count I encountered was 213; the shortest was 28.

Also of note, 410 of the 500 websites I studied use a target keyword in their meta descriptions. 

The Main Takeaway

An effective meta description should have about 147 characters and include the specific keyword the web page in question is optimized for. This number of characters is enough to encourage users to click, but isn’t at risk of truncation, i.e. when Google cuts a meta description off to save space. And the use of keywords will increase CTR, which will help your web page content rank better in search results.

Meta Description Facts: Analysis of 100 Top News Sites

When it comes to the news category, 61% of the websites I studied use the keyword “news” in the meta description. Digging deeper, 80.3% of these sites use said keyword within the first five words.

On average, news websites use 146 characters in their meta descriptions—only one character shy of the universal average mentioned above.

The median number of characters in this category was a bit higher at 155. Still, almost every meta description was below the preferred 160 character threshold.

The Main Takeaway

If you own or manage a news-oriented website, it would be wise to use the keyword “news” in your page’s meta description tag. What’s more, the keyword “news” should be used within the first five words of the tag. And the tag as a whole should sit somewhere between 146 and 155 characters. These things could help your content rank higher on a search engine results page.

Meta Description Facts: Analysis of 100 Top E-Commerce Sites

What about e-commerce websites?

84% of the e-com websites I studied for this article use one of the keywords “buy,” “shop,” or “purchase” in their page’s meta description. And 71.4% of them use it within the first five words.

Average websites in the e-commerce category write meta descriptions that clock in at 145 characters, though the median number of characters in these descriptions is 153.

Of course, some companies buck the trend. One of the sites I studied only used 28 characters in its meta description.

The Main Takeaway

A significant number of e-commerce websites use transactional keywords in their meta descriptions. This makes sense, as these sites exist to sell products. If you’re in the e-com space you should follow suit, while keeping your descriptions between 145 and 153 characters to assist on page SEO.

Meta Description Facts: Analysis of 100 Top Education Sites

The education websites I studied take a similar approach to their meta descriptions.

What do I mean by that? 99% of these sites use one of the following keywords to describe page content: “lessons,” “college,” “university,” “learn,” or “teach”. And 74% of these sites use one of these keywords within the first five words of their chosen description.

Meta description length was fairly uniform across the category as well. The average number of characters per meta description was 145, while the medium number of characters was 150.

The Main Takeaway

Education websites should use keywords like “lessons,” “learn,” and “teach” in their meta descriptions. When applicable, keywords like “college” and “university” perform well, too. Other than that, character counts for education sites should sit between 145 and 150 characters.

Meta Description Facts: Analysis of 100 Top Tech Sites

Next up, the tech industry.

88% of the tech websites I studied for this article include the keywords, “tech,” “iPhone,” or “Mac” in the meta description. And 67.9% of these sites feature said keywords within the first five words of text.

As for meta description length, the average number of characters in each meta description for tech is 154, while the median is 158—both a bit higher than other industries.

The Main Takeaway

Tech websites should follow similar guidelines to those outlined above. Use keywords at the beginning of your meta descriptions—especially if said keywords relate to Apple products. And ensure your meta tags are between 150 and 156 characters for peak SEO performance.

Meta Description Facts: Analysis of 100 Top Health Sites

Last but not least, I studied meta descriptions in the health industry.

According to my research, 78% of top websites in this space use keywords like “health,” “medical,” “fitness,” and “healthy recipe,” in their page’s meta description tag. Moreover, 67.9% of these websites insert a keyword within the first five words of meta description text.

I also learned that the average number of characters for meta descriptions in the health industry is 154, while the median number is 158.

The Main Takeaway

Again, the insights I gleaned about meta descriptions in the health space are like those I gleaned in other fields. Keep character counts below 160 characters, use relevant keywords, and insert keywords close to the beginning of the text.

Write Meta Descriptions That Work

As we’ve seen, meta descriptions are important. While search engines don’t use them to rank content, good meta descriptions can increase your CTR, which definitely affects SEO.

To ensure your meta descriptions are in tip-top shape, make them enticing, feature keywords, include a CTA, and keep them between 140 and 160 characters. Oh, and don’t forget to write unique meta descriptions as duplicate meta descriptions can negatively impact rankings.

One more thing: you don’t have to write each meta description for your website by yourself. In fact, you don’t even need to plan your entire SEO strategy by yourself. As an SEO professional, I can handle these tasks for you, and help you drive more traffic to your website. Let’s talk!