Meta Descriptions Below 70 Characters
Explanation & Implementation Guide
Explanation
Meta descriptions serve as concise summaries of a web page’s content and are displayed below the title in search engine results pages (SERPs). While meta descriptions do not directly impact rankings, they play a crucial role in improving click-through rates (CTR). A well-crafted meta description, typically between 70 and 155 characters, ensures that the full description is visible in search results and entices users to click. Meta descriptions under 70 characters can be incomplete, reducing their effectiveness in conveying the page’s value to users.
Implementation Guide
Download and Open Screaming Frog SEO Spider:
Install Screaming Frog SEO Spider, a free SEO tool, which is essential for crawling your website and analyzing SEO elements.
Crawl Your Site:
Input your Shopify store’s URL into Screaming Frog and start the crawl. Allow some time for the tool to complete the process.
Review Meta Descriptions:
Once the crawl finishes, navigate to the ‘Meta Description’ tab in Screaming Frog. This will allow you to view the length of each meta description on your site. Use the filter options to specifically identify pages with descriptions shorter than 70 characters.
Export the List:
For easier analysis and tracking, export the list of pages with short meta descriptions to a spreadsheet.
Fixing the Issue
Log into Shopify Admin:
Navigate to your Shopify Admin, go to “Online Store”, and select either “Pages” or “Products” depending on where the short meta descriptions were found.
Edit Meta Descriptions:
Select the page or product you wish to update. In the ‘Search Engine Listing Preview’ section, click ‘Edit Website SEO’. Here, rewrite the meta description to be between 70-155 characters, ensuring it is a clear, concise summary of the page’s content. Include a call to action (CTA) if applicable.
Save Your Changes:
After rewriting the meta description, save the changes to each page or product.
Re-crawl and Review:
After making changes, refresh your Shopify store with DevTools open to confirm the errors are resolved. Clear your browser cache or test in an incognito window to ensure the fixes are effective.
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