What is Metadata?
To put it simply, Metadata is the information that describes and gives context to other data. In the internet landscape metadata is included inside HTML Meta tags, where search engines like Google look for information about pages.
It includes details like the title, description, keywords, and more, helping search engines and users understand what a webpage or file is about. Metadata is crucial because it influences how your content is indexed by search engines, which in turn affects your website's visibility and ranking in search results.
Meta Tags are HTML tags that provide information about a webpage’s content to search engines and users.
Understanding these types is fundamental to writing effective metadata that enhances your content's discoverability and user engagement.
Types of Metadata
1. Title Metadata
Title metadata, or the title tag, is arguably the most important type of metadata. It appears as the clickable headline in search engine results and sets the first impression. A compelling title can significantly increase the click-through rate.
2. Description Metadata
The meta description is a brief summary of the page content that appears below the title in search engine results. While it doesn't directly affect search rankings, a well-crafted description can improve click-through rates.
Where can you see the title and description?
Search engines don’t come up with page titles themselves, so if you do a quick google search the results you see are meta titles and meta descriptions provided by the content creators.
The meta title is underlined in red, the meta description is just bellow it.
3. Keyword Metadata
Keyword metadata involves using specific terms and phrases that users are likely to search for. Search engines like Google have moved away from relying heavily on keyword metadata due to past abuses, it's still beneficial to include relevant keywords naturally within your content.
Choosing the right keywords requires research to understand what terms your target audience is using.
You can read more about it in our previous blog release about keyword research.
4. Other Metadata Types
In addition to titles, descriptions, and keywords, there are several other types of metadata that can enhance your content:
Image Alt Text: Describes the content of images on your website, helping search engines understand and index visual content.
Schema Markup: A type of microdata that helps search engines interpret the context of your content, enhancing rich snippets in search results.
Open Graph Tags: Used by social media platforms to display rich previews of your content when shared.
Incorporating these metadata types can improve both SEO and user experience by making your content more accessible and engaging.
Why is Metadata important?
As mentioned before ranking on google is crucial for a successful digital presence. The first top 10 based ranked pages get much more click than the ones bellow as approximately 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results. What’s more, the first organic result in Google search results gets about 39.8% of all clicks, so it is important to know how to rank higher.
In context of Search Engine Optimisation effective use of metadata helps search engines understand the content of a webpage, improving its visibility and ranking.
But it is not only made for the algorithm.
Well-crafted metadata provides users with a clear and concise summary of the content, helping them decide whether to click on a link. This can significantly increase the click-through rate (CTR). For example, featured snippets, which often include metadata, have a CTR of 42.9%, compared to the 39.8% CTR of the first organic result without a snippet.
Best Practices for Writing Metadata
1. Length
Each type of metadata has optimal character limits: titles should be 50-60 characters, and descriptions 150-160 characters. Keeping within these limits ensures that your metadata is fully displayed in search results.
Use punctuation and formatting to make sure your title and description is easy to read.
Your meta description and title will spimply get cut of if it is over the 160 characters threshold. Google will also not analyse anything that is over the limit length in the meta tag.
2. Relevance and Accuracy
Metadata should accurately reflect the content of the page. Misleading metadata can lead to high bounce rates and damage your site's credibility. Avoid keyword stuffing and ensure that all metadata elements are relevant to the content they describe.
3. SEO Considerations
Metadata plays a crucial role in SEO. Search engines use metadata to understand and index your content, affecting its visibility in search results. Regularly update your metadata to reflect any changes in content and to keep up with search engine algorithm updates.
Use the primary keyword of a page in both the title and description. That can make you rank higher with organic search.