It’s Official! Google Increased the Length of Snippets in Search Results
Google recently made a big change in how they display snippets in their search results. In early December 2017, many searchers noticed the snippets seemed longer than before. Snippets are the descriptions shown beneath the URL in organic search results. They provide a brief description of the site and explain how the site relates to the query. Trusted providers of online marketing in San Diego discuss this recent change in featured snippets.
Snippet length used to be 160 characters on average, but the average length is now about 230 characters, and some snippets are as long as 275 characters. The change in featured snippets applies to both mobile and desktop searching. One of Google’s spokespeople told Search Engine Land, “We recently made a change to provide more descriptive and useful snippets to help people understand how pages are relevant to their searches. This resulted in snippets becoming slightly longer on average.”
Snippets are usually generated based on the searcher’s query, the content of the page, and the meta description. The change in snippets may affect how marketers write their meta descriptions. Having a longer snippet means you might answer a searcher’s question entirely, and they won’t have to click on your site for more information. On one hand, having helpful information in the snippet is valuable for the searcher, so sites with informative snippets will probably rank higher. On the other hand, you still want to entice searchers to click on your webpage.
You may see a difference in your click-through rate over the next few months. Less complex queries will probably have fewer clicks, but more complex queries may get more clicks because the longer descriptions could be more enticing. The best way to handle this change is to make a list of your site’s pages that receive the most search traffic. Then, reoptimize the meta descriptions for those pages to fit the longer limits.
Boosting your online ranking involves more than just focusing on featured snippets. To create a comprehensive SEO plan for your business, turn to Saba SEO. As a leading San Diego search engine optimization agency, we help our clients increase their online ranking and attract more customers. From creating high-quality content to designing a responsive website, we offer a range of solutions tailored to suit the needs of a wide variety of businesses. Call us at 858-951-1717 to schedule an appointment.