Are your WordPress site‘s meta descriptions failing to capture searchers‘ interest and motivate clicks? This 2,700+ word definitive guide will teach you how to easily optimize custom SEO-friendly descriptions.
Why Properly Optimized Meta Descriptions Are Non-Negotiable
Meta descriptions are HTML tag attributes contained in page source code that concisely summarize contents for search engine preview snippets.
They appear as short paragraphs under blue clickable headline links on Google, Bing and other search engine results pages (SERPs).
Compelling meta descriptions are crucial for WordPress websites because:
1. Dramatically Increase Click-Through-Rates
Keyword-optimized and irresistible descriptions can boost how often searchers click your link vs competitors.
A BrightEdge study discovered that when Google displayed websites‘ custom meta descriptions vs generating its own snippet, it improved CTR by:
- 46% on desktop
- 100% on mobile devices
Higher click-through directly translates to increased website visitors and conversions.
2. Ranking Factor For Relevance
Google evaluates meta description content when determining the overall relevance of pages to match searches.
Descriptions frequently containing keywords and topics searchers are querying signal to Google the page satisfies user intent better than competing listings lacking related description texts.
Higher perceived relevance leads to better search visibility and traffic.
3/ Stronger Brand Presence
Meta descriptions give you prime branded real estate on the coveted first page of Google.
Rather than searchers seeing inconsistent generic copy, custom descriptions consistently broadcast your brand messaging and value proposition across all critical listings.
Visitors instantly recognize your content fits their needs.
4. Prevent Irrelevant Copy in Snippets
Without customized descriptions, search engines will often display random excerpts from pages lacking context.
This leads to bizarre, confusing and irrelevant snippets that fail to represent the content or mislead users.
Configuring SEOPress Free Plugin
Manually hard-coding meta tags in WordPress theme files is extremely cumbersome.
Luckily the intuitive SEOPress free plugin makes editing descriptions easy.
After installing SEOPress navigate to SEO → Import & Migration to launch setup.
Step 1: Select Clean Install
Assuming this is a new SEOPress initialization, choose ‘No‘ when asked about importing content from other SEO plugins.
We‘ll build optimized metadata from scratch using best practices.
Step 2: Enter Publisher Information
Provide details like your site‘s brand name, logo and social media URLs.
This information may populate a Google Knowledge Panel showcasing your brand identity and online presence in search results.
Only the Business Name field is required. Complete other fields as desired.
Step 3: Select Desired Indexing
It‘s best to keep all options disabled so that:
- Posts remain indexed (critical for blogs)
- Categories and tags can still be indexed
We don‘t want to risk Google deindexing any content and losing traffic.
Step 4: Enable URL Permalink Setting
Under Advanced Options enable "Remove /category/ from URLs" to optimize permalink structure.
For example:
Non-Optimized: yoursite.com/category/seo/meta-descriptions
Optimized: yoursite.com/seo/meta-descriptions
Keeping all other options unchanged, click complete setup.
An XML sitemap was automatically generated to improve crawlability.
Customizing Default Title & Description Templates
Now we‘ll configure smarter auto-generated titles and descriptions for future posts.
Navigate to SEO → Titles & Metas → Single Post Types.
Title Template
The default inserts text exceeding the optimal 60 character cut-off:
%%post_title%% %%sep%% %%site_title%%
We‘ll streamline it by removing non-essential site branding text:
Optimized template: %%post_title%%
Additional enabled options:
- Display date – Signals freshness of content
- Display post thumbnail – Associates custom images
Meta Description Template
The default description just contains the:
%%post_excerpt%%
This is typically short, abrupt sentences thematically unrelated to the rest of the page content.
Optimized template:
%%post_excerpt%% […] %%content%%
This dynamically builds more descriptive, compelling descriptions by intelligently blending preview text from the:
- Manually written post excerpt
- Beginning of the full post content
Descriptions truncate at 320 optimal characters.
Editing Individual Post Meta Data
While default title and description templates boost efficiency, you still need to verify and refine the auto-generated metadata displays effectively for each piece of content.
Why Manual Checks Are Essential
Without manual oversight:
- Automated descriptions may end mid-sentence
- Irrelevant content could be showcased
- Opportunities to further strengthen branding and messaging are missed
Manually validating each post‘s preview snippet in search results is crucial for ideal on-page optimization.
Accessing Meta Preview Box
When editing posts, scroll down to the SEOPress meta values section:
Key elements:
- Dynamically generated title + description combination
- Preview of search appearance
- Length indicators
- Manual override fields
If you manually type an alternate title or description, the plugin will override the template defaults with your custom text instead.
Optimizing Snippets
Scan the preview and fine tune as needed so that:
- Titles concisely reflect the core focus (< 60 chars)
- Descriptions compel clicking without cutting off awkwardly mid-sentance
- There is sufficient extended page content to satisfy search intent
- Branding and messaging align across snippets site-wide
Run SEOPress‘ on-demand content analysis tool if you want to further gauge keyword concentrations or fast track optimizations.
Balancing targeting searchers with representing what unique value your content offers readers is key.
Additional WordPress SEO Enhancements
With meta data covered, complementary search engine optimizations to significantly elevate organic rankings and traffic include:
1. Install Google Analytics
Understanding your visitor behavior is crucial for determining what content resonates or needs improvements.
Google Analytics is free and provides unmatched insights.
Read our guide on How to Add Google Analytics to WordPress to get set up in just 10 minutes.
2. Incorporate Visual Media
Posts incorporating images, graphics and videos substantially boost engagement and social sharing rates according to Buzzsumo:
| Content Type | Facebook Shares |
| Articles with images | 94% more shares |
| Articles with video | 96% more shares |
For easy multimedia integration, a drag & drop WordPress photo gallery plugin enables you to create high-impact visual content.
Learn how to add a photo gallery plugin to WordPress here.
3. Install Contact Forms
Building email lists and driving conversions is accelerated with contact forms allowing website visitors to directly subscribe or inquire.
See our guide on adding contact forms in WordPress to seamlessly capture more leads.
Putting It All Together
Optimizing your WordPress site‘s meta data presentation is proven to boost click-through-rates, cement relevance and amplify your brand consistency across critical search listings.
Configuring the SEOPress plugin streamlines modifying the autogenerated titles and descriptions WordPress displays in search engines.
Combine the user-friendly interface with manually fine-tuning the preview snippets for each piece of content, and you have a formula for substantially increased organic traffic and visibility.
Now you‘re equipped with a comprehensive blueprint for creating irresistible meta descriptions to reach more of your target audience!
