Google Rolls Out Longer Meta Descriptions In Search Results

Last week, Google confirmed that they will be rolling out longer meta descriptions in organic search results. The meta description tag will now be increased from 160 characters to 320 characters. While this update may not directly impact on your online performance, it is a good idea to understand how these snippets can impact your business.

What Are Meta Descriptions?

Meta descriptions are the text that is displayed in the Google search results below the title of the page. Up until recently, best practice has been to keep these descriptions between 150 and 160 characters. These descriptions have been confirmed as not being a direct ranking signal in search engine optimisation (SEO), however, they do provide more context about the page to potential customers.

What Do You Do?

While there is a chance that Google will already update your meta descriptions for certain page, it is a good idea to re-write your meta descriptions. Having the extra character limit will enable businesses to help grab their potential customers attention to their website.

We recommend working on your sales pages, or pages that are ranking well first. Make sure that you are within the new character when re-writing your meta descriptions and always make sure to analyse any changes to your pages bounce rate and average time on site.