How to Add Meta Descriptions in WordPress
Looking for ways to set up meta descriptions and improve your SEO? We’ve got you! Learn the best way to add meta descriptions in WordPress with this step-by-step guide.
What is a Meta Description?
A meta description is a few lines of text that describe the content of a page. Usually, you can see meta descriptions in the search engine result pages under the titles of the websites.
It is an SEO element used to improve your click-through rate (CTR) and increase website visitors. When someone looks for something in a search engine, there are many results. Having an attractive meta description can make a big difference in the result the user chooses to click.
Apart from the SEO title, most users check the meta description before deciding on whether a search result is relevant for them or not. It gives them a clear preview of the content they’ll find in that link without actually having to open that website.
Over time, a compelling meta description will help you boost your CTR and improve the overall search engine ranking position for your targeted keyword. That’s the primary purpose of the meta description.
Now that you know what it is, let’s learn why adding meta descriptions to your WordPress posts is a good idea.
Why Add Meta Description in WordPress?
Adding good meta descriptions to your posts and pages is a good way to make the content more relevant, boost your CTR, and gain more organic traffic from search engines.
As we mentioned in the previous section, another advantage of meta descriptions is that they help you improve your overall search engine ranking which means more visitors. Instead of displaying a default meta description for your posts, you can set up a custom one. This will help you have more control over the SEO part of the post and choose what you need to display when a visitor searches for the keyword.
Now let’s see how you can add meta descriptions in WordPress the right way.
How to Add Meta Descriptions in WordPress
In this section, we’ll see how you can set up meta descriptions on your site. For that, you need an SEO plugin. For this example, we’ll use Rank Math SEO, so first, you need to install, activate and configure the plugin. Rank Math is compatible with both Classic Editor and Gutenberg Editor, and it’s super easy to use.
Now let’s see how to add meta descriptions to different types of content in WordPress.
Blog Posts
You have to open the post you want to add the meta description to via Gutenberg or Classic Editor.
Gutenberg users will see the Rank Math settings in the top-right corner.
If you are using the Classic Editor, scroll to the bottom and you will see the options there. Once you click the Rank Math option, it will expand.
Now to add the meta description to this post, click the Edit Snippet button.
From there, you can edit:
- SEO Title
- URL
- Meta Description
Simply insert your meta description under the Description section.
Rank Math has a live preview option to see the meta description in the live preview wizard. This will give you an idea of how the meta description will look on the search engine result pages.
Once you have added the meta description, publish (or update) the post. This is how to add meta descriptions to a WordPress blog post.
Pages
Setting up meta descriptions for pages is very similar to doing it for posts.
First, open the desired page, select the Rank Math option, and add a new meta description as shown below.
Finally, remember to update the page and that’s it.
Archives
When you have multiple archives or custom post types, motions are available under Rank Math Titles & Meta configuration. Whenever you need to edit the archive meta description, you can go to Settings and update it manually.
On the other hand, if you need to tweak individual archive posts, you need to open them through the Gutenberg or Classic Editor and edit them accordingly.
Homepage
If you have a custom homepage on your WordPress site, you can add a new meta description. If you don’t have one, go to the Rank Math Titles & Meta configuration option, and edit the homepage meta description.
Blog Page
If you have configured a custom blog page on your website, you can go to the specific page and edit the Rank Math settings. Once you have added the meta description, simply update the page. From now on, when someone searches for your blog page, they will see your customized meta description in the search engine results.
How to Write a Good Meta Description
Writing a meta description is easy, but writing a good meta description isn’t. But that’s what will make users decide whether to click on your page or not, so you must write the right meta descriptions.
The keys to writing good meta descriptions are:
- Keep it short
- Add keywords
- Make it compelling
- Ensure you have perfect formatting
- Avoid spelling mistakes
Let’s look at each point and learn why they matter.
Keep it short: Keep the character count under 160. This way, search engine result pages will show the full meta description and won’t cut the text.
Insert keywords: Insert your primary keyword in the meta description naturally but avoid keyword stuffing.
Make it compelling: Write engaging meta descriptions and give the user a good reason to click on your article. Explain what your post is about in 1 or 2 lines.
Ensure you have perfect formatting: Add commas and exclamation marks correctly.
Avoid spelling mistakes: Make sure your meta description doesn’t contain spelling mistakes to generate trustworthiness.
By following these methods, you can add the best meta description to your WordPress site.
Bonus: Choose the right SEO Plugins
Now you know how to set up meta descriptions in WordPress, let’s have a look at a few of the best SEO plugins:
- Rank Math
- Yoast
- All-In-One SEO Pack
Let’s have a deeper look at each option.
1) Rank Math
Rank Math is an SEO plugin created by MyThemeShop that has useful features that can help you boost the search engine performance of your website. It’s a popular tool that’s used by millions of professional bloggers, online stores, and eLearning websites around the world.
Some notable features of Rank math SEO include an easy-to-follow setup wizard to configure the plugin, Google Analytics integration, Google Search Console integration, and keyword position history that shows you how well the keyword has ranked over time.
Rank Math is a freemium plugin. The free version is good enough if you are a beginner, whereas the premium plan unlocks more powerful features such as keyword tracking, 24/7 priority support, schema generator, and more.
2) Yoast SEO
Yoast is one of the most famous SEO plugins. It’s a very solid plugin that comes with plenty of features. It allows you to easily add keywords and meta descriptions on your WordPress site and has an elegant settings panel.
Apart from Yoast SEO for WordPress, there’s also Yoast for News, Video, and Yoast Local that include specific features for different types of sites.
Yoast is a freemium plugin. The free version is a great start, but if you upgrade, you get more features, access to their whole Yoast SEO Academy, and more.
3) All-In-One SEO Pack
All In One SEO is another excellent SEO plugin that helps you quickly improve your overall on-page SEO. It comes with plenty of features to monitor the All In One SEO pack for your video SEO, local SEO, and WooCommece SEO.
The All in One SEO Pack has features like robots.txt editor, breadcrumbs customization, redirection manager, and more. This way, you get several tools in a single plugin.
Another notable feature is the smart XML generator that automatically updates the XML sitemap of your website and notifies the search engines to help you boost your SEO.
All-in-One SEO is a freemium plugin. You can download the free version from the WordPress repository or go for one of their premium plans that start at 49.6 USD per year.
If you need more information about the best SEO plugins, have a look at this dedicated article.
Conclusion
Search Engine Optimization is a challenging game. If you want your website to rank higher in SERPs, you must optimize your website and blog posts. Among all the elements you can optimize, the meta descriptions are one of the most important ones.
The good news is that you can easily add meta descriptions in WordPress to make your posts more attractive and boost your CTR. The easiest way to do this is with a dedicated SEO plugin like Rank Math or Yoast.
As we’ve seen, you can set up meta descriptions for different elements of your site such as blog posts, pages, archives, and even custom post types. All you need is an SEO plugin.
We hope you have found this article helpful and learned how to add meta descriptions to your site. If you did, please consider sharing this blog post with your friends and fellow bloggers on social media.
Similar articles you might like:
