How long should a meta description be for SEO?

Wondering whether there’s a limit to the ideal meta description length? If you’re searching for a clearcut answer to ‘How long should a meta description be?’, then you’ve come to the right place.

At Aqueous Digital, we have years of invaluable experience supporting our clients with our expert Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services – including the creation of high-quality content and attention-grabbing meta descriptions.

To help you create the perfect meta description for your target audience (and Google!), we explain the best length for a meta description and take a look at whether there’s a strict meta description character limit in more detail below.

How long is a meta description?

Technically, meta descriptions can be any length. However, to prevent websites from taking up the entire search engine result page (SERP), search engines like Google truncate these descriptions. This means you’ll typically see just one to two lines of meta description content underneath the title of the webpage on the SERP.

Can meta description have maximum 255 characters?

At the beginning of 2017, Google had a meta description character limit of 275 characters. However, Google is constantly changing where and how much content appears online, so this ideal SEO meta description length has been varied previously and continues to change.

What is the maximum character count for meta description?

While there’s no specific meta description character limit, you can create longer meta descriptions between 255-300 characters if you want to include more information. It’s worth nothing, however, that not all the description will be shown on the SERP because the meta description character limit is now much lower.

What is the ideal meta title length?

Searching for the ideal meta description length? According to Google’s most recent guidelines, the best length for a meta description is between 155-160 characters.

Abiding by this ideal SEO meta description length ensures the description can include enough information to be useful to the user without overwhelming them.

While 155-160 characters is the current ideal meta description length, it may not remain this way.

Without warning, Google has been known to change the best length for a meta description, so it’s worth staying up to date with any recent SEO changes and Google updates.

Does a long meta description affect SEO?

Regardless of how long or short your meta description might be, it’s unlikely that it will significantly affect your SEO efforts. This is because Google no longer uses meta descriptions as a ranking factor, so adding in a meta description, long or short, won’t help you climb those rankings.

However, effective meta descriptions can still be an important part of content creation and SEO best practices.

As one of the first snippets of content an online user sees when using search engines and coming across your pages, they are essential for encouraging your target market to click onto your webpage.

Ensuring you create a meta description that abides by the 155-160 meta description character limit (and is therefore less likely to be cut short by Google) increases the likelihood of users being able to accurately understand the content of the advertised page.

Alternatively, if you decide not to include a meta description for your webpage, or if Google believes your meta description isn’t useful, Google may create its own meta description on your behalf.

These Google-generated meta descriptions are designed to help the user identify whether your content is useful for their specific query, instead of giving a general overview of the entire piece of content.

As a result, if you want more control over the content and length of your meta descriptions, you should make every effort to write your own meta descriptions.

If you require professional help writing meta descriptions and improving the SEO for your website, why not get in touch with Aqueous Digital?

Contact Aqueous Digital today

For expert support creating the ideal meta descriptions that abide by the meta description character limit and grab the attention of your audience, don’t hesitate to contact Aqueous Digital today.

Our team of experienced copywriters and SEO account managers has created countless pieces of optimised content for a wide range of businesses, helping them to rank higher where they want to be seen online.

Our organic SEO efforts have delivered impressive results for businesses big and small, could you be next?

To find out more about our range of SEO and marketing services, feel free to discuss your requirements with a member of our team.

To get in touch, you can either call us on 0800 285 1424, submit your enquiry to hello@aqueous-digital.co.uk, or use our convenient online contact form.

However you decide to get in contact, rest assured, we’ll be in touch shortly to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation!

How long should a meta description be for SEO?

How long is a meta description?

Can meta description have maximum 255 characters?

What is the maximum character count for meta description?

What is the ideal meta title length?

Does a long meta description affect SEO?

Contact Aqueous Digital today

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