How To Avoid One of the Most Common SEO Pitfalls For Your Business
One of the most common on-page SEO problems we see with our clients is that their sites are missing meta descriptions.
The meta description is the text in Google that describes the search results that you found. It’s the smaller, gray text below the webpage title. Meta descriptions have a max length of one line for paid ads and between three and four lines for organic results. I’ve added a red box around them in the image below as examples of a paid meta description vs. an organic meta description.
All website builder platforms offer the ability to add your own meta description--but so many people don't know how to dig into the advanced settings of their websites or don't have the time to learn how to do it.
What does this mean in terms of results? It means when people search for your website, the meta description becomes the first text that Google "sees" on your page. Often this results in a list of navbar titles ("About Us," "Products," etc.) or your latest blog post text making its way into your meta description. Adding the meta description is low-hanging fruit in your digital marketing strategy to draw the right audience to your website, increase relevant traffic, and convert that traffic to leads.
How do you edit your meta description, then? We've broken this down for three of the major out-of-the-box website building platforms: Weebly, Squarespace, and Wix. We did not include Wordpress ínstructions since a plugin is required. In Weebly, Squarespace, and Wix, no additional plugins are necessary and you can easily edit these without add-ons or upgrades.
Finding the meta description in Weebly
Weebly's meta description field is the most straightforward to find. Click on "Settings" in the navbar, then "SEO" in the sidebar, and edit the "Site Description" field. Simple!
Finding the meta description in Squarespace
Squarespace's meta description field is located in "Settings," not "Analytics," which may not be intuitive. From the main menu, click "Settings," then "SEO," and the "Search Engine Description" field will be right at the top of the page.
Finding the meta description in Wix
Wix has the most complex process for its meta description field and has the most robust SEO tools of these website builders. While it has an "SEO Wiz," a checklist that walks you through multiple layers of SEO for your site, it also allows you to edit each individual page's meta description.
You will need to navigate to the site editor, click on "Menus and Pages" in the side bar, and click on the three dots next to the page you would like to describe. We recommend, at minimum, putting a meta description on your home page. A bubble will pop up; click on "Page SEO" and fill out the page title field and "What's the page about? Add a description."
If you're struggling with SEO or would like a tour of your website builder platform, feel free to reach out to us on our contact page.