Meta description length is often misused, and as a result a site loses potential clicks from search engine visitors.

The tag <meta description> appears near the top of a Web page’s source code and is one of the most important SEO tips. It is used by search engines to describe the content of the page in search results.

As an example, go to Google and conduct a search about “search engine optimization.” In each entry, the first part of the display is the title from the document with a link through to the site. The second part is usually taken from the meta description.

But not always.

If a search engine can’t find a meta description in the document, it may display part of the content of the page in its search results instead. If it does find the meta description, it usually will limit the number of characters it displays to 255.

Scroll down the page of the search results for “search engine optimization.” Notice that some of the descriptions end with an ellipses (…). Google displays the ellipses if it is using content from the page or if the meta description is longer than about 255 characters.

While the writer of the description can go longer than 255 characters, there is little point in doing so if searchers don’t see anything beyond the character limit. If the most important of the description lies beyond the limit, the searcher may be more likely to click on another page that has a better, more appealing description.

Any site that wants to maximize visits from search engine results will be wise to make sure that every page has a meta description and to write concise ones that don’t exceed 255 characters.

Click SEO tips for more insights about online promotion, advertising, site development and search engine optimization.

Scott Bateman is a professional journalist and online publisher with lengthy experience in major media. He has launched and managed numerous Web sites for media companies, local businesses and non-profit associations.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/meta-description-length-impacts-search-engine-clicks-1470392.html