This post is part of a series on getting more leads and enquiries from your website.

Part 2 – Using Title Tags & Meta Descriptions to Entice Prospects to Your Website

Our first blog in this series looked at how to build a profile of your ideal customer, how to understand what they’re looking for, what they’re worried about, and what will convince them to trust you.

Once you have clarity on these fundamental areas, you’re ready to move onto the next stage – making sure you win the battle of the search results.

Whatever products or services your business sells, for prospective customers, a web search will almost certainly be their first step on the journey towards engaging with you.

When Google lists your business in the search results, prospective customers are presented with brief details about your company. This is all the information they  have to help them decide which link to click on – yours or one of your competitors.

The search result for your business will consist of two pieces of information – a title tag and a meta description.

Title Tags

Title tags are the blue headlines / links that visitors have to click on to get from a search result to a website. They contain the keywords / phrases that are being used to make sure Google finds the site and includes it in the results it displays. If for example, you want Google to list you when someone searches for ‘Photographer in Reading’, this search term needs to be added to your title tag.

SEO Tip: How to find out which keywords your competitors are using

Make a list of the keywords and phrases your ideal customers are likely to put into Google at the start of their journey. Type each one into Google to see which of your competitors appears. Look at their title tag, and you’ll be able to see the search terms they’re using to optimise their site. Read our post on SEO for more information:https://mmdweb.co.uk/organic-seo/

Meta Descriptions

In grey text immediately below the title tag is a short summary of the page content. This is the meta description.

Meta descriptions are only snippets of information – a maximum of 150 words or so, but they are one of your most important pieces of online marketing content. In just a second or two, they must convince prospects that yours is the business they should connect with. It’s imperative they work as hard as they possibly can to drive visitors to your website.

6 Steps to a Perfect Meta Description

Meta descriptions are small, but to be effective, they must be perfectly formed.

Make sure your meta descriptions…

1. … Directly address what your ideal customer is looking for & any concerns they may have

Finding the right words for your meta description will mean looking back at the notes you made about what your ideal customer is looking for. You can’t afford to waste words. Your meta description must instantly resonate with your prospect.

Let’s imagine you’re an email marketing agency. Will prospects really be interested in knowing which email clients you use? Will they care about your opening hours? Not in the first instance anyway. They’re far more likely to click on your link if you tell them you can use email marketing to generate high-quality leads for their business at a very reasonable price, so this is what your meta description needs to say.

2. … Are tailored to each page

Each page on your website should have its own unique meta description . This will improve the search experience, and ensure you attract the most relevant prospects to a page.

Take for example a photographer offering a range of specialist services. While the meta description on their home page will be generic, meta descriptions for pages about specific services – weddings, family portraits and so on – will focus on the product area, and will address the kinds of concerns prospects typically have.

3. …. Speak in an active voice

Use short, ‘punchy’ sentences that speak in an active – as opposed to a passive voice. For example, instead of ‘We can save you money on your email marketing and generate more leads for your business’. say ‘Email marketing that will generate more leads and save you money’. It’s more impactful and uses fewer words.

4. … Use a clear and strong call to action

Make sure you leave prospects in no doubt about the action you want them to take. Phrases like ‘Learn more’, ‘Get it now’ or ‘Try it for free.’ are good examples of strong calls to action.

5. …. Accurately reflect page content

Make sure your meta descriptions don’t mislead in any way. They must accurately reflect the content on the page. Besides doing nothing positive for the reputation of your business, Google will identify sites setting out to deliberately trick visitors – and might downgrade their ranking.

6. … Are SEO friendly

If you include the search keyword or term within your meta description text, Google will recognise this and will be more likely to give it priority in the search results.

Take Control of Your Meta Descriptions

If you don’t create a meta description for each page on your website, Google will do it for you. But it will do so by simply automatically lifting a chunk of content from the web page. How it looks will be down to luck, and the odds are that either key information won’t be displayed – or irrelevant information will be.

This is the second in a series of blogs about How to Get More Leads and Enquiries from your website. If you’re concerned about the number or quality of enquiries your website is generating then please contact us today by sending us a message or calling us on 0118 380 0131.