META Tag Copywriting – Don't Forget this Critical Step for Online Success!

by Jon Wuebben

Meta tags are code that is found both in the html pages of your site architecture AND what you see displayed on the page when you do a search. If you are going to perform well in the copywriting area, it’s important to know what these are and how they affect you.

There are two important ones: The Title tag and the Description tag. The title tag uses 2-3 keyword phrases and/or benefits to tell the searcher what the page is about. It needs to read almost like a headline – this will motivate people to click on it.

The description tag takes it one step further and explains in a little more detail about that page and what the company is offering. Two important points on Meta tags: every page needs to have unique tags, with unique keyword phrases (generally true on the phrases) and you want to write them with the idea that you are trying to “sell” that person on clicking on your site to find out more. Basically, it’s a little ad that is out there on the web, bringing your clients in. Many times, it’s the first thing people see about your site, so you want to make sure they are right!

Here’s an Example from our Press Release Writing page:

<title>Press Release Writing | Custom Copywriting | Writing a Press Release</title>

<meta name=”description” content=”Custom Copywriting performs press release writing that draws immediate attention for your next corporate announcement, product launch or event. Discover the power of writing a targeted press release.”>

See how we used the keywords “Press Release Writing” and “Writing a Press Release” in the title and the description? We will then use these keywords in the page content as well.

Here is something you should do right now: jump on to Google and type in “site:www.your domain.com” – fill in your domain with whatever your site URL is. What pops up are all your titles and descriptions for pages indexed by Google. Are they all the same? That needs to change! Every page needs unique titles and descriptions.

And remember, on keyword phrases, make them very specific. If you currently say “our vacation packages,” use “our Bahama island vacation packages” instead. If you are selling “day spa services,” use this as your keyword phrase instead of simply “services.”