Every time you enter a query into any search engine and receive results, you read at least one meta description, if not more. These text snippets tell searchers about your content and convince them that you have the answers to their questions.

That said, because they ‌run short — typically 160 characters and under — and appear on search engine results, not on your website, it’s easy to undervalue them. Even some of the best digital marketers and copywriters throw them together at the last minute.

Why should you take your time crafting yours and what goes into writing a good one? We’ll get to that in a minute but, first, let’s ‌look at a handful of meta description generators that can help you win half the battle right out of the gate.

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The top 4 meta description generators

We’re all for creating stellar content — even if you need to get a little help. Thankfully, we live in a tech-blessed era where you can get a little boost for just about any activity, even writing! 

1. Jasper

Our top meta description generator tool is our very own Jasper, an AI writing assistant. Jasper helps writers and content marketers create compelling content and copy that converts, whether it’s for meta descriptions or an entire long-form article. To accomplish this, you can use one of its 52+ available templates. 

At least four Jasper templates are dedicated to writing descriptions for service pages, product pages, blog homepages, and blog posts. For this article, let’s test out the Homepage Title and Meta Descriptions template and see Jasper at work.

Here’s what Jasper shared for a fictional cleaning company.

We asked for more options, and we got them.

Notice that Jasper highlights the keyword, which in this case includes the company’s location and expertise. It digests the information provided and uses its bank of knowledge to create a description that matches the specifications — even adding an urgent CTA (as you’ll see, this is pretty important)! 

Pricing: You can get your hands on Jasper’s 52+ templates—meta description templates included—for as little as $29 per month. 

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CopyAI

How does CopyAI’s meta description generator compare to Jasper’s? Check out the descriptions it produced based on the same info given to Jasper. 

The generator did a fairly good job of polishing the description given. It turned incomplete sentences into complete ones, added more descriptive, trust-building words, and even used common phrasing such as “If you’re looking for X, look no further.” Some ‌results could still use a little tweaking, but this tool will give you a good start. 

Pricing: Free to use.

Dashword 

Next, there’s Dashword’s meta description generator. The downside of this generator is that it only allows a 100-character description of your subject. However, it produces some decent outputs, as you can see below.

Since you can’t provide as much detail as with other generators, Dashword takes some liberties. For example, here, it assumed that Samm’s cleaning is affordable and has 40 years of experience, which may or may not be true in our fictional scenario. However, those minor details are no trouble to edit, especially since the overall quality of the descriptions is good.

Pricing: Free to use. 

Rytr 

Rytr also offers a tool for generating SEO descriptions. Some advantages of using it are that you can write in languages other than English, select a tone of voice, and choose a creativity level to steer the AI in the right direction. 

This use case only allows an input of 75 characters, which isn’t much. But it did a good job of expanding on the little information it was given, adding example services, a call-to-action, and even personal touches like the line about being family-owned. 

Pricing: Free, although you will need an account and may need a paid plan if you exceed Rytr’s monthly character limits. Paid plans start at $9 per month.

How to write a meta description that gets clicks

As the examples show, generators can be a quick and effective way to write good meta descriptions. But you shouldn’t rely on them altogether. It’s still important to know the best practices so that you can choose the best descriptions and make any edits needed when using Jasper or another generator tool. Here are five tips to get you on the right path.

. 1. Analyze your current content and how it displays on SERPs

You’ve decided to use a generator tool like Jasper, but before you start crafting away, it would help to see what your current content looks like on SERPs. That way, you know what you’re working with and what needs changing.

Some of your content may be ranking as featured snippets, in which case you might want to leave them as they are in the meantime. On the other hand, for pages with lower SEO rankings, you might see value in adding a description that gets readers’ attention.

2. Write for readers (and search engines)

Yes, you can do both! How? By sounding conversational even while ensuring that your target keyword — or at least part of it — fits into the 2-3 sentences of your description. There’s no need to mention the keyword multiple times unnecessarily. That will only hurt your site’s rankings.

Instead, engage with readers. Ask a fun question. Make a joke. Show them you understand what they need and, more importantly, that your content will fill that need.

3. Keep it concise and unique

Selling your long-form article or beloved product in less than 160 characters can seem like an uphill battle, but it is certainly possible — and vital. 

Search engines can only show a maximum of 160 characters. So if you write too much text, all your hard work will have been for nothing, because it will be fragmented with forlorn ellipses at the end.

You can try allocating roles to each sentence of the description. One to highlight the problem, one to highlight your solution, and one short call to action. Perhaps one sentence can even fill two roles if you’re skilled enough. 

4. Add a call to action

A CTA tells readers what to do. You might think readers will know exactly what to do with your article’s link in the SERPs, but these things aren’t always clear when readers are swarmed by search results.

Make your CTA unmissable. CTAs like “Learn more in this post,” “Call 123456789 to learn more,” and “Shop directly on our website” will ensure that readers know exactly what to do.

5. Double-check with an analyzer tool

When you’re all done and almost satisfied with your description, run it through an analyzer tool to ensure it meets all your targets. A popular analyzer is the Yoast SEO plugin — available to WordPress users.

Yoast won’t know how well-written or conversational your description is, but it will check the measurable parameters for SEO. It calculates the number of characters in your description and checks that your keyword is included, for example. 

A good Yoast alternative is the SEOPress plugin, which is also available to WordPress users. To check the length of your descriptions and get a preview of how they’ll appear in search results, you can also use free tools like Mangools’ Google SERP Simulator.

5 great meta description examples to learn from

Now, let’s see our tips in practice by reviewing a few real-life examples of well-written SEO descriptions. Then we’ll highlight what each one does well.

1. ASOS

ASOS wins by providing value in the first sentence! Who doesn’t love a freebie? Their description also highlights their stock range in clear terms. Win-win!

2. Crocs

Crocs keeps things lighthearted, creating a measure of intrigue for anyone who hasn’t tried the brand. Comfort and support are key footwear requirements for their target audience and Crocs doesn’t miss the chance to highlight how they solve their problem.

3. Mom Loves Best

Mom Loves Best stays simple and concise while clearly indicating who its ideal reader is. If you fit into either of the categories, you know what to do—visit the website.

4. Wendy’s

Wendy’s brings the fun with a wink and a reassuring “We Got You” in their description. Their meta draws you in, makes you smile, and (yes, you were probably already going to do so anyway) place an order.

5. Twitter

In case you ever wondered what people do on Twitter, their meta description has all the deets. And don’t miss the CTA: “Join the conversation.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Ultimately, to write good meta descriptions, you need an accurate understanding of what they are, what they do, and why they’re important. So here are the answers to some commonly asked questions. 

What’s the difference between a meta description and an SEO description?

The terms “meta description” and “SEO description” can be used interchangeably; they mean the same thing. 

Some people may also refer to homepage meta description as the site SEO description, and those of other pages as page meta descriptions. Ultimately, both terms mean the same thing.

Every page on your website, including your homepage, should have a description for potential visitors (and search engines) to read.

The important thing to keep in mind though: Google doesn’t always show the description you create. Neither does Bing.

Depending on the search query, Google search results will often show a direct response to the question asked as quoted from your site’s page. Sometimes, search engines will also show a featured snippet or a random portion of text from the article. This can be frustrating, but it surely highlights the need to have your content tight all over.

But if Google picks descriptions anyway, is there even a point in writing them? Yes, and here’s why.

Why do meta descriptions matter?

There is an overwhelming amount of resources for pretty much any topic online. For every search query, searchers get hundreds of results, and most people want the most qualified experts to answer their questions.

While the quality of your SEO description isn’t a direct ranking factor, it can indirectly impact your organic traffic and rankings. Here are three reasons ‌meta descriptions matter:

1. Your meta description is essentially your ad copy. It’s your 5-second pitch to potential readers. You make a promise to answer their query by showing them that you understand their pain point and telling them what you offer. 
2. Pages with meta descriptions look tidier on SERPs. It seems like a small thing, but it can hurt your brand and click-through rate when your SERP snippet is disorganized and unhelpful. Your site almost resembles a malware zone, as opposed to a value center.
3. Good meta descriptions indirectly improve page rankings and SEO by clicks. While Google doesn’t judge sites by the way their descriptions read, it does determine reputable sites by click-through rate (CTR). Your CTR is the percentage of searchers who choose your content from SERPs. How do you get readers to click? An enticing description. Higher CTR = better rankings with search engines.

Bottom line: These short descriptions sell your content to readers when they come across it in search results. They help your target audience decide whether to read your content. They look better and result in lots of click-throughs, which tell Google your site is worth ranking.

True, sometimes Google shares a random article snippet that may or may not be relevant to searchers. But without a hand-crafted description, Google will always show a random snippet of your article. So creating descriptions for every page sets your web pages up to perform better on search engine results pages (SERPs).

What’s the difference between meta descriptions and meta tags?

Meta descriptions are part of the meta tag family. Meta tags are HTML codes found in the source code of your site’s pages. Readers (or anyone) looking at the page won’t see your meta tags unless they click “View Page Source” upon right-clicking, unlike meta descriptions, which are shown in search results.

Meta (short for metadata) tags basically point out sections of your page to search engines crawling the site. This gives the search engines an idea of your site layout and content. Some basic meta tags you should know about are:

• Page title or meta title: This is where the title of your page shows up.
• Meta description tag: Your SEO description will live here.
• Viewport: Your site uses this tag to tell Google how it should show your pages on a mobile device. Once Google sees this meta tag, it knows that your site is mobile-friendly.
• Robots: This tag tells site crawling robots what to do with your page. For example, follow or nofollow links would inform robots whether a link is worth ranking.

Are meta tags important for SEO? Yes, some of them are. The title tag, for example, is how search engines present and rank your article. Robot follow or nofollow tags are important for your domain rating as they tell search engines whether to trust (i.e. follow) links to your website.

Improve your content CTR with a meta description generator

The usual meta description length is three sentences (or less). Often, searchers’ decision to click or not to click after reading it is so quick that people forget the important role the SEO description plays. Let us be the ones to remind you: Your meta description is your SERP ad. Use it.

Make it the best it can be by enlisting Jasper, an AI copywriter. Jasper uses the information you provide to create relevant, engaging, and high-converting copy that readers can’t help but respond to positively.

Start a free trial of Jasper today and see for yourself.