Pack a Punch: Maximizing Character-Limited Content

Shoppers actually like short-form content. Billions watch TikTok movies, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels each month. But it surely isn’t simply customers who like quick content material. Google, YouTube, social media platforms, and extra anticipate transient content material. In meta descriptions, excerpts, episode descriptions, and typically posts. Some even set whole character limits. How do you take advantage of these characters? Learn on.

Meta descriptions

Some best-practices content material says meta descriptions must be between 150 and 160 characters. Different sources say they are often as much as 300 characters. Google says it doesn’t matter as a result of it simply selects essentially the most related info from the meta description for the searcher, which often seems as a truncated model. However it doesn’t matter what’s allowed, you continue to don’t have a number of characters to convey the message, so you want to take advantage of them. To craft a meta description that basically delivers, you want to take into consideration what the searcher would need from the content material. (Hopefully, you considered that earlier than the content material was created, so it aligns with each enterprise and viewers intent.) You shouldn’t want an in-depth evaluation to grasp the content material’s goal. Take a look at the designated key phrases and classes. Organically incorporate the first key phrase (at a minimal) into the outline. And element what the searcher will get out of the content material. Right here’s a few of what Google says about perfecting the meta description:

• Create a brief, related abstract of the web page.
• Deal with it like a pitch to persuade the person the web page is strictly what they’re in search of.
• Craft distinctive descriptions for each helpful web page.

TIP: You don’t want to put in writing meta descriptions in sentence format; nevertheless, keep away from stringing collectively key phrases as a result of they don’t give context for the content material. Right here’s an instance of unhealthy and higher from Google:

• Dangerous: “Eggs are a supply of pleasure in everybody’s life. Once I was a small baby, I bear in mind selecting eggs from the hen home and bringing them to the kitchen. These had been the times.”
• Higher: “Discover ways to prepare dinner eggs with this whole information in 1 hour or much less. We cowl all of the strategies, together with over-easy, sunny facet up, boiled, and poached.”

Instance: Although I’m not a giant fan of utilizing examples from my work, on this case, I need to as a result of I can’t see the native meta descriptions (or excerpts) for content material on different websites. Let’s dissect the meta description instance:

“Get your viewers to stay and click on with interactive content material. Uncover the probabilities, instruments, and large outcomes that many entrepreneurs are lacking out on.”

The outline totals 153 characters. It incorporates the first key phrase “interactive content material.” As to its goal, the class helped inform that. The article belongs to the content-creation class. So, the second sentence, “Uncover the probabilities, instruments …” delivers on that. Yet one more tip — be direct. Sure, I might have written, “Content material entrepreneurs can get the viewers to stay and click on with interactive content material. You possibly can uncover the probabilities ….” However I didn’t need that noun, “content material entrepreneurs,” and pronoun, “you,” to take treasured house. You don’t want to deal with the viewers except that’s vital for understanding or focusing on.

Excerpts

Now, I see lots of people merely paste their meta description into the excerpt subject in WordPress or the corresponding class in no matter CMS they use. Excerpts may also be used as promo copy for newsletters, social media, and extra. Generally, excerpts shouldn’t be the identical because the meta description. As WordPress explains, excerpts are summaries of longer articles that seem elsewhere in your web site, similar to a weblog abstract index or archived pages. Which means the particular person seeing an excerpt is already in your web site. You aren’t asking them to select your content material over a competitor’s web page that seems on the identical search engine rankings web page. With that understanding, you may craft a extra particular abstract or spotlight the content material’s options that will appeal to somebody to devour it. Instance: Right here is the excerpt for the interactive content material article:

“Host a ballot. Do a quiz. Create a sport. Interactive content material is available in so many kinds, however not sufficient entrepreneurs reap the benefits of it. Uncover the probabilities, instruments, and large outcomes.”

The excerpt is slightly longer than the meta description (about 30 characters or so). It’s additionally 5 sentences as a substitute of two. Since I didn’t have to draw somebody looking Google for details about do interactive content material, I may very well be extra particular on the article’s takeaway concepts — host a ballot, do a quiz, create a sport — earlier than sharing the first key phrase (interactive content material) and article overview. Yet one more tip — you don’t must fully rewrite your meta description. As you may see within the instance, the final sentence, “Uncover the probabilities, instruments, and large outcomes,” is identical for each. Simply be certain that the excerpt delivers what an viewers already in your web site may need to know in regards to the content material.

YouTube descriptions

YouTube provides you 5,000 characters to explain your video. That’s the equal of about 800 to 1,000 phrases. However even Google, the proprietor of YouTube, advises towards utilizing all of them to elucidate the video. Consider the outline in two elements — the textual content that seems earlier than the clickable phrase “extra,” and the textual content that seems in full after they click on. Within the first half, embrace as much as three key phrases that mirror the subject material, at the very least considered one of which seems within the title. That technique is sensible, given YouTube is the second-largest search engine on the planet. With these phrases chosen, spend your time crafting a couple of distinctive sentences (about 100 to 200 characters) to face out. You’ll need to be sure that each a searcher and a subscriber of your channel can rapidly perceive what they’ll get from watching the video. You need to repeat the key phrases within the second a part of the outline, in keeping with Hootsuite’s helpful YouTube description guide. Instance: Let’s take a look at this video from Intuit QuickBooks — How To Use Project Estimates in Quickbooks Online Advanced. The primary a part of its description reads:

“With QuickBooks On-line Superior you may embrace estimated prices if you fill out Undertaking Estimates. That approach you may measure your estimated versus precise profitability on a undertaking.”

The primary half totals 182 characters and succinctly explains the video’s matter ( embrace estimated prices), the product (QuickBooks On-line Superior), and the profit (measuring your estimated versus precise profitability). Intuit incorporates focused key phrase phrases — undertaking estimates and QuickBooks On-line Superior.

When the person clicks on “extra,” they see the total description. It totals about 1,500 characters — 18 occasions greater than the preview however nonetheless far under the 5,000 characters permitted by YouTube. The total description consists of another sentence on the specifics included within the video. Then, it exhibits the timestamps and chapters for the video to assist viewers know when to tune into a specific matter. Intuit additionally consists of hyperlinks to all its step-by-step tutorials damaged down by material earlier than asking customers to subscribe to the channel and go to the corporate’s web site.

In the event you’re unfamiliar with add chapters and timestamps, YouTube offers instructions. At a minimal, you have to embrace three chapters, every lasting at the very least 10 seconds. Yet one more tip — you can even additional customise the outline for simpler studying by bolding, italicizing, or hanging by the textual content. Whereas YouTube doesn’t enable conventional bullets, you need to use emojis to make your factors simpler to learn.

LinkedIn

Each social media platform embraces short-form posts. Nonetheless, given the rising recognition of LinkedIn for B2B entrepreneurs, I needed to give attention to that platform. It could seem to be a platform the place you may write with out caring in regards to the character depend. It isn’t. LinkedIn lets people use as much as 1,300 characters and firms as much as 700 characters for posts to their pages. That appears like lots in comparison with meta descriptions, excerpts, and X. However right here’s the factor: LinkedIn exhibits solely about 200 characters or much less on the display earlier than the “see extra” button seems. So, you’re again to crafting an excellent quick message. Nonetheless, not like meta descriptions and excerpts, your publish might seem within the feed of LinkedIn audiences who aren’t actively looking and never even actively keen on your matter. You will have two selections: 1. Write a publish that doesn’t require the reader to click on to see extra, or 2. Write a publish (in lower than 200 characters) that pulls the reader to click on, after which ship a quick narrative that makes them glad they did. Both approach, focus your time on the content material that may seem within the feed. Create one thing visually and substantively pleasing to draw consideration rapidly. For instance, use surprising spacing by inserting line breaks and ellipses or incorporate a (related) emoji or two. Instance: On this LinkedIn publish, CMI opted for a brief publish (about 165 characters) with two targets. The textual content promotes the interactive content material article by touting the subject’s profit (“delivers greater outcomes than static content material”) and explains what the reader will get (“what works, out there instruments, and extra”). It’s designed to get readers to click on on the article hyperlink that additionally seems within the publish (the primary objective). But it surely additionally has a second goal — getting the viewer to cease scrolling and take a ballot. In 18 characters, it invitations individuals to take a ballot. (LinkedIn limits polls to 4 choices. Preserve the alternatives easy, or individuals received’t trouble studying them, not to mention vote within the ballot.)

Yet one more tip — for those who use hashtags, be certain that to funds house for these characters. Nonetheless, don’t go overboard. Scheduling software program Hootsuite recommends no more than three hashtags, and I concur.

Keep quick

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Polonius says, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” In content material advertising, brevity is the soul of digital content material. Google needs it. YouTube likes it. LinkedIn prefers it. However simply as importantly, audiences do, too. So, the following time you craft that meta description, excerpt, video description, or LinkedIn publish, don’t take into consideration the higher character limits. Deal with doing simply sufficient to fulfill your model, the publishing channel, and your potential readers.