Create perfect meta titles and descriptions: Practical SEO tips

Meta titles and meta descriptions are a website’s business cards.
So, what is their fundamental purpose? In short, to turn searchers into visitors – and, ideally, into customers, friends and fans who visit your website on a regular basis. It’s therefore worth taking the time to craft effective meta titles and meta descriptions. In this article, we’ll show you how to do just that and pass on some handy SEO tips for metadata.
Why are meta titles and meta descriptions so important?


SERPs display a page’s URL, meta title and, ideally, a meta description.
Good to know
Google no longer sees your website’s desktop version as primary. Mobile-first indexing is now standard for all websites. This has an impact on how we create metadata, as SERP snippets are displayed differently on mobile devices compared to computers and laptops.


Online tools like the Sistrix SERP Snippet Generator provide a preview of how metadata is displayed on mobile and desktop devices.
Tip
The Google Chrome extension SEO META in 1 CLICK makes it easy to check the metadata of individual URLs.
What is a meta title? Definition and characteristics
Strategic keyword placement in meta titles
SEO guides and advice pages often recommend putting the primary keyword as close to the start of a meta title as possible – but some veteran SEO specialists dispute this. Google doesn’t have any requirements about this.
Important: The keyword must describe the page content as precisely as possible. This means you mustn’t promise something you can’t deliver – no matter what a term’s search volume is!
Character limits in meta titles
The character limit for meta titles is set at 569 pixels, which corresponds to about 70 characters. However, to make sure the full title is displayed on SERPs, we usually recommend using a maximum of just 55 to 65 characters.

The keyword “daily sickness allowance” is prominently positioned in this meta title.

5 SEO tips for meta titles
- Length: Max. 70 characters, incl. spaces (569 px)
We recommend: 55–65 characters, incl. spaces - Primary keyword as close to the start as possible
- Plan topics and content
- Describe the page content concisely and informatively
- Don’t use superfluous or irrelevant keywords
- Meta titles often end in | Brand
What is a meta description? Definition and characteristics
Good to know
Other search engines, such as Bing, never display the meta description and instead always use a section of text that their algorithm thinks is related to the search query.
What is the ideal length for meta descriptions?

The ideal meta description piques the user’s curiosity about a given page.

5 SEO tips for meta descriptions
- Length: Max. 145–155 characters, incl. spaces (960 px)
- Include suitable keywords and, if appropriate, similar search queries
- Provide an informative description in line with the page’s content
- Use symbols and emojis where needed to set your page apart from the rest of the search results
- Don’t use superfluous or irrelevant keywords
- Include CTAs where appropriate
TIP
Online tools like the Sistrix SERP Snippet Generator are handy when creating metadata.
In a nutshell: How to create optimised metadata for Google and users
- Create unique content that offers users genuine value – and only then create the metadata
- Use free SERP snippet tools to create metadata of the ideal length, including emojis, symbols and so on
- Include suitable keywords in your meta title – this is a key SEO consideration
- Provide a preview or insight into the page content in the meta description – this generates curiosity and interest
- Use special characters such as icons and emojis to catch the eye – and separate your snippet from the other search results


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