The most crucial component of every website is its search engine optimization. If you want people to find your website, it must include material that is optimised for search engines. On-page SEO services enable your website to improve exposure and attract more visitors by optimising the content on its pages. In this, meta and title tags play an important role. 

When you optimize your website with meta and title tags, it makes it easier for the search engine to identify your website all about. This makes it possible for the content on your website to appear in the snippets of the search result. This article will see how meta and title tags can help optimize your website and improve your SEO rankings.  

Meta Tags:

These are metadata descriptions. A meta description is essentially HTML tags that summarize the content on your website or blog. They help identify your content and what it is about. It will not appear in any content but can help grow your site.

The source code is the thing that search engines use to decide where your website should show up in their indexes when a certain query arises. You can simply right-click on a website and check their page source to see if it uses meta tags. 

Although search engines do not use these meta tags to rank your page, having meta tags can attract users to click on your website. This will eventually lead to an increment in the rankings.

Search engines generally show this meta description under the title tag. But it cannot be guaranteed that the search engine will display the exact meta description provided by you. 

There are some things you can do to provide an optimized meta description that has better chances to be shown by the search engine:

• The length of your meta description should be less than 130 characters, which is suitable for both mobile devices and desktops
• Avoid adding duplicate or copied meta
• Add a clear call-to-action in your meta description
• In the meta description, it is essential to include targeted keywords
• If any offers are running on your website, include that in your meta description

Types of meta tags

There are mainly six types of meta tags that are very important. Some meta tags are not useful anymore, while others can be used more often to increase traffic to your website. 

The six meta tags are:

1. Title tag: This is the listing title that appears in the search results. Your keyword should be placed here for optimal exposure.
2. Meta Description tag: An overview of the content on your page is provided here.
3. Robots tag: By using these tags, search engine spiders will have an easier time indexing your website.
4. Alternative text tag: Images cannot be read by search engines. The purpose of alternative text is to describe the subject matter of a picture. Using this method can help you rank higher in picture searches.
5. Open Graph meta tags and Twitter tags: Use this tag to link social media accounts to your website. Twitter tags, on the other hand, are exclusive to the Twitter service.
6. ViewPort meta tag: Use this meta tag to control how your website is presented on any device, including smartphones and tablets.

What are title tags?

Title tags are the first thing that people see once they land on the search result page. A title tag that conveys what your page is about and is relevant to your page is key for a good and optimized webpage for both the webpage and the person viewing the search results. When your title tags are attractive and compel people to click on your website, the search engine will also prioritize your page and your content. This is why title tags are the most important meta tag.

Here are some ways you can optimize your website’s title tags: 

• Title tags should be short, unique, and easy to read. They should not be longer than 55 characters. If you have a long title tag, the search engine will cut it short by adding an ellipsis(…) at its end, which defeats the purpose of having a title tag
• Relevant keywords are a must if you want to get visitors on the site
• Title tags should be optimized with the right keywords so that you can have a better ranking in search results
• Use your brand name in your website’s title tags

Why are title tags the most important?

It is a very important tag that can rapidly grow the site’s ranking. Title tags are the only meta tag visible to the user, apart from the description. The title tag is seen in the browser tab and the search result list. 

Benefits of using meta tags

• Easy indexing on search engines
• Keywords get ranked
• Better user experience

Impact of Meta description:

Although there is no direct benefit from these SEO services, it has many indirect benefits. Having a meta description increases the chances that a user will click on your website, which will increase your website’s click-through rate (CTR). Search engines such as Google use this click-through rate to understand the performance of your website, which aids in better search result rankings. 

If more users click on your link in the search results, Google would consider your content helpful to users and bump you up in the rankings, which is important to gain visibility and attract traffic to your website.   

Conclusion

Title tags and meta descriptions are like two companions that run your site; crawlers and users visit the site by looking at the tags and meta you are using. They describe your content on the website and present it summarised. It helps the user to understand their search query. 

If you are using the relevant tags and meta descriptions, it is highly likely to attract the user. If these two meta tags, when used correctly, have a great impact on your SEO and improve your website ranking.