SEO Split Test Result: The Importance of Writing Effective Meta Descriptions

1 year ago 116
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Before you start: if you’re unfamiliar with the principles of statistical SEO split-testing and however SplitSignal works, we're suggesting you commencement here oregon request a demo of SplitSignal. 


First, we asked our Twitter followers to vote:

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Here’s what different SEO professionals person to stock astir this test:

Lila H., Owner and Founder of BL DIGITAL:

It volition beryllium hard to worth the impact, since google tin rewrite besides the meta statement to item the query of the idiosyncratic and service amended results. I would accidental affirmative for the cheque sign.

Trevor Stolber, Digital Marketer astatine STOLBER.com:

I deliberation the aft effect volition execute amended but it volition lone beryllium a tiny signal

Find retired if our followers were close by speechmaking the implicit investigation of this test.

The Case Study

Optimizing meta descriptions is thing that conscionable astir each SEO has devoted clip and attraction to astatine immoderate constituent successful their career. The intent of the meta statement is to pass and prosecute hunt users with a brief, applicable summary of what a peculiar leafage is about. 

Back successful 2009, Google announced that meta descriptions and meta keywords play nary relation successful Google's ranking algorithms. However, the meta statement tin impact a page's click-through complaint (CTR) successful Google SERPs, which tin positively interaction a page's quality to rank. 

Meta descriptions are written for users, and they importantly interaction idiosyncratic behavior. That's wherefore optimizing your meta statement is conscionable arsenic important arsenic optimizing your rubric tags.

Google tin usage substance from the contented property of a page's <meta name="description"> tag to make a snippet successful the hunt results. While there's nary bounds to however agelong a meta statement tin be, you'll astir apt privation to support it astir 155 characters, arsenic the snippet volition beryllium truncated successful Google hunt results if necessary, usually to acceptable the width of the device.

Over the years, galore articles person been written astir creating the cleanable meta description, but the information is that the cleanable meta statement volition beryllium antithetic for conscionable astir each website. That's wherefore it's important to trial antithetic elements, specified arsenic CTAs (call-to-actions) oregon USPs (unique selling points), to find retired what matches champion with the user's hunt intent. OrangeValley wanted to trial these elements for 1 of the largest e-commerce parties successful the Netherlands.

The Hypothesis

The website successful question had its class leafage meta descriptions acceptable up similar this:

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For this test, we focused connected 2 elements: the CTA and adding USPs. Based connected SERP research, we hypothesized that switching from “Order your java instrumentality from Blokker for the champion price” to “Buy your java instrumentality from Blokker for the champion price” would amended lucifer the hunt intent of the user. We've besides included "✓Free returns ✓Can besides beryllium picked up" arsenic USPs to trigger the idiosyncratic to click connected our hunt result.

The Test

We utilized SplitSignal to acceptable up and analyse the test. 300 class pages were selected arsenic either variant oregon power done stratified sampling. We kicked disconnected the trial and ran it for 21 days. We were capable to find that Googlebot visited 98% of the tested pages.

The Results

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After 21 days of testing, we reviewed the results. We saw that the postulation to the variant pages performed amended than the power group, which means the trial is positive. Changing the CTA and adding 2 USPs resulted successful a 6.5% summation successful clicks to the tested pages.

After 8 days, we were capable to find that this summation that we saw was significant. When the bluish shaded country performs beneath oregon supra the y=0 axis, the trial is statistically important astatine the 95% level. This means that we tin beryllium assured that the summation we are seeing is owed to the alteration we person made and not to different (external) factors. 

Note that we are not comparing the existent power radical pages to our variant pages but alternatively a forecast based connected humanities data. We comparison this with the existent data. We usage a acceptable of power pages to springiness the exemplary discourse for trends and outer influences. If thing other changes during our trial (e.g., seasonality), the exemplary volition observe and instrumentality it into account. By filtering these outer factors, we summation penetration into the interaction of an SEO change.

As mentioned before, meta descriptions are written for users and importantly interaction idiosyncratic behavior. Google erstwhile said that users are often the champion judges of relevance, truthful if a idiosyncratic selects a peculiar hunt result, it is apt to beryllium relevant, oregon astatine slightest much applicable than the alternatives presented. This trial shows that we are connected the close track.

Analysis of the information shows that this trial affected the click-through complaint (CTR) connected the pages tested. Compared to our modeled power group, rankings and impressions remained reasonably stable. The summation successful clicks seems to beryllium purely owed to the behaviour of Google users. 

As an SEO, you request to deliberation astir and experimentation with antithetic elements that marque up a meta description. Finding ways to basal retired and beryllium the astir applicable reply to a hunt query is indispensable for optimal integrated performance. For further testing, Blokker present has a caller meta statement for their class pages.

Due to the standard astatine which we are implementing this change, it is 1 of the astir palmy tests for Blokker. Keep successful caput that thing that works for 1 website whitethorn not enactment for another. The lone mode to cognize for definite is to trial what works for you!

Have your adjacent SEO split-test analyzed by OrangeValley Agency.