SEO Starter Pack: Metadata

You’ve heard about it before, but what actually is metadata? How do you find it and how do you optimize it? In this article we’re detailing why metadata is important, what types of metadata are typically optimized for SEO, how to find it, how to edit metadata on popular site builders like WordPress & Shopify, and a few expert tips that you can use when optimizing your metadata.

Let’s jump in!

What is Metadata?

Metadata is information about the pages of a website, like a page’s title, a description of the page’s content, and any keywords that are linked to the page. Search engines use this information to figure out what a website is about and to help users find relevant sites when they search. Simply put in terms of SEO, it’s the information Google uses to understand the content on the page. Like most of us, crawlers want easy answers and, as SEO professionals, optimized metadata is how you give it to them. By putting your main keywords in your metadata, you can increase the likelihood that your website will rank high for those keywords in search results.

In addition to helping your website rank, optimized metadata can also help improve the click-through rate (CTR) of your website. That’s because the title tag and meta description are typically used by search engines like Google as the text that appears in their results. If this data is well-written and includes your primary keywords, you can be more effective at convincing users to click on your website when they’re browsing the SERPs.

Types of SEO metadata

Several types of metadata are commonly used for SEO. Here are the most important 4:

1. Title tags: These are the text that appears in the browser tab or window when you visit a website. They are also used by search engines as the title of a search result. you typically include your primary keywords in the title tag, but it should also be written for humans, as it will be the first thing that users see when they see your website in the SERPs.
2. Meta descriptions: These are short descriptions of the content of a web page. They are often used by search engines as the snippet of text that appears below the page title in the search results. It’s also important to include your keywords in the meta description, but it should still be written for humans. A strong description copy will help convince them to click on your website in the search results.
3. Alt tags: These are used to describe the images on a web page. For these, you need to think about how Google reads an image. Crawlers can’t see images as a whole, they document them by the file’s name and data. So, if you add a description of that image to the data, you will have a higher likelihood of Google understanding and indexing it appropriately. An added benefit is alt tags provide a text alternative for users who are unable to view the images on your website, such as users with visual impairments who are using screen readers.
4. H1, H2, and H3 tags: These are used to indicate headings and subheadings on your web pages. They help search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of the content. Without these, Google doesn’t always know how to read the content efficiently or attribute the sections with the schema markup. You want to use your keywords in your headings and subheadings, but be sure to use them sparingly and only when they are relevant to the content.

3 Ways to Find Existing Metadata

Metadata is typically hidden from the page, so here are a few tips you can use to find and analyze your metadata easily:

Use a browser extension: Tons of browser extensions allow you to view a website’s metadata, such as Meta SEO Inspector. Some popular options include SEO Meta in 1 Click for Chrome and SEOquake for Firefox.
View the source code: you can view the source code of a web page by right-clicking on the page and selecting “View page source” (in Chrome) or “View source” (in Firefox). This will open the page’s HTML code in a new window or tab. you can then search for the metadata tags, such as “title” and “meta”, to view the metadata for the page.
(BEST OPTION) Use a free tool like Screaming Frog: Screaming Frog Spider is AMAZING for quickly crawling and assessing the metadata on a website. It will give you detailed logs of all your titles, descriptions, alt tags, and more in a matter of minutes.

How to Optimize Metadata

Now that you know what metadata is and how to find it, you need to update it based on your keyword research. Let’s walk through how you optimize your metadata on WordPress, Shopify, and 50CS web builders.

WordPress

To change the meta title and description on your WordPress website, you can use a plugin like Yoast SEO:

Install and activate the Yoast SEO plugin.

Install the Yoast SEO plugin

Go to the page or post that you want to edit.
Scroll down to the Yoast SEO section.
In the “SEO title” field, enter the title and in the “Meta description” field, enter the description that you want to use for the page or post.

Click on the “Publish” or “Update” button to save your changes.

Alternatively, you can also use other SEO plugins to change the meta title and description for your pages and posts, but we’re fans of Yoast’s interface. Don’t hesitate to try different plugins that might fit your needs better.

Don’t forget, Yoast and other SEO plugins work best when they’re properly configured.

Shopify

To change the meta title and description for individual products on your Shopify website, we’ll need to edit the products in the Shopify admin:

From your Shopify admin, go to “Products”.
Find the product that you want to edit, and then click on its name to open the product details page.

Scroll down to the “Search engine listing preview” section.

In the “Page title” field, enter the title that you want to use, and in the “Meta description” field, enter the description that you want to use for the product.

Click on the “Save” button to save your changes.

To change the meta title and description for individual pages on your Shopify website, we’ll need to edit the SEO settings for each page:

From your Shopify admin, go to “Online Store > Pages”.
Find the page that you want to edit, and then click on its name to open the page details.

Scroll down to the “Search engine listing preview” section.

In the “Page title” field, enter the title that you want to use and in the “Meta description” field, enter the description that you want to use for the page.

Click on the “Save” button to save your changes.

50 Creative Solutions Web Builder

If we’re using the 50CS web builder, you can easily change the meta title and descriptions by editing the SEO settings for each page and post.

Log in to your 50CS account and go to the dashboard for your website.

From the dashboard, click “Pages”.
Click on the “Settings” cog to the right of your target page.
Select the “SEO” tab.

In the “Page Title” field, enter the title and the “Meta Description” field, enter the description that you want to use for the page or post.

Don’t worry about saving, this happens automatically. Click on the “Republish” button if you want them populated on the live site.

5 Pro Tips for Metadata Optimization

While optimizing your metadata, it’s helpful to keep these 5 pro tips in mind:

Use your primary keywords in the title tag and meta description: Including your primary keywords in the title tag and meta description can help increase the chances that your website will rank highly in the search results for those keywords.
Make the title and description compelling and informative: As I mentioned before, the title and description are often used by search engines as the text that appears in the SERPs. By writing compelling and informative titles and descriptions, you can increase the chances that users will click on your website while browsing the SERPs.
Use unique titles and descriptions for each page: Using unique titles and descriptions for each page on your website can help search engines differentiate the content of each page and improve the chances that different pages will rank in the search results for their different target KWs. We suggest you always aim for just 1 primary keyword per page in your SEO strategy.
Keep the title and description within the recommended length: Search engines typically display only the first 50-60 characters of the title and the first 155-160 characters of the description in the search results. Try to keep your titles and descriptions within these limits so they don’t get cut off on the SERPs. Also, don’t go below these limits or you’re losing valuable space for adding information.
Use your primary keywords sparingly: Remember to include your primary keywords in the title and description, but use them sparingly and only when they are relevant to the content. Overusing keywords (stuffing), or using irrelevant keywords, can hurt your rankings.

Let’s wrap it up

Proper metadata is KEY to for a successful SEO campaign. It’s the information Google uses to understand the content on the page. Typically, a website with optimized metadata will rank higher on search engines than a website that isn’t optimized. This is because search engines use data like title tags, descriptions, headers, and alt tags to figure out what a website is about and how relevant it is to a user’s search query. You can find your metadata and optimize it with a variety of low-cost SEO tools and, by putting your main keywords in the correct places, you can make it more likely that your website will rank high for those keywords in search results.

Don’t forget that metadata is only one of many things that search engines use to decide how to rank websites! Other factors include the quality and relevance of the content, backlink profile, user experience, and technical SEO. So, if you want your website to rank well on search engines, you should not only focus on your metadata but also on optimizing all the other important SEO aspects. That’s where a professional SEO and Content Marketing Agency can help your website flurish.

If you’re looking for help, give us a call and our agency can assist you in finding the right SEO solutions for your website.