WordPress is a popular content management system that allows users to create and manage their own websites. Meta descriptions are a way for WordPress to show potential website visitors what the article or post is about before they decide to click on it. You don’t need meta descriptions on your website, but they can help make your content easier to find and get more people to read it.
Adding meta descriptions to your WordPress posts is a great way to increase click-through rates (CTRs) and improve your SEO. Unfortunately, many people find it difficult to add meta descriptions using standard WordPress features. Fortunately, there is no need to install a plugin! This guide will show you how to add meta descriptions using the built-in WordPress features.
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How to Add Meta Descriptions in WordPress Without Plugin?
Meta descriptions are essential for SEO purposes, as they help potential website visitors understand what the content on your website is all about. Unfortunately, adding meta descriptions using plugins can be time-consuming and difficult, which is why we’ve put together this guide to adding meta descriptions without a plugin. By following these simple steps, you’ll be able to add effective meta descriptions to your WordPress site in minutes!
What is the Meta Description?
Meta descriptions provide concise summaries of webpages, enabling users to determine whether a particular page is relevant to their needs. The meta description appears in search engine results pages as well as in browsers when a user bookmarks or shares a page.
While the length of a meta description can vary, it should be around 155-160 characters for optimal display in search engine results pages. A well-written meta description entices users to click on your result rather than one of your competitors’.
The content of a meta description should reflect the page’s content and include the target keywords for that page. However, overfilling a meta description with keywords can make people less likely to click on it.
This is an example of the meta description tag:
<meta name="description" content="This is the description sentence or short paragraph about the article or post." />
Why Meta Description Important?
SEO:
Meta tags are important for SEO because they provide information about a web page to search engines. These tags are hidden behind the scenes, but they play an important role in helping search engines determine the content of a page.
Many expert SEOs and professional bloggers suggest optimizing websites for these tags. The most common meta tags are the title tag, the description tag, and the keywords tag. By filling out these tags correctly, you can help improve your website’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).
The title tag is one of the most important meta tags because it tells search engines what a page is about. The title should be brief and to-the-point, and it should include your target keywords.
The description tag is also important because it gives searchers an idea of what a page is about.
Search Engines Index:
They provide a summary of what the web page is about, which helps search engines index pages easily. They also help users determine whether the page is relevant to their needs. The keywords meta tag tells the search engine what the page is about, while the description meta tag provides a brief summary of the content. The title should accurately reflect the content of the page. The description tag is also important, as it gives searchers an idea of what the page is about before they click on it.
Helps In Better Ranking
Main reason meta description helpful for better rankings is that they help Google or other search engines identify the topic of a page. This is important because it helps Google determine the relevancy of a page for a particular search query. If you have relevant meta tags, your page is more likely to show up in search results for that query.
Another reason meta description helpful is that they can help you rank higher for long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are keywords that are more specific than general keywords and have less competition. Including them in your meta tags can help you rank higher for those
Follow these steps to add Meta Descriptions in WordPress without a plugin.
Step 1: Appearance to Theme Editor
Go to the WordPress Dashboard >> Appearance >> Theme Editor.
Click on the Theme Editor.
Step 2: Find out the functions.php File and open it
When you click the theme editor, you’ll see the backend on the right pane. So, click on the Theme Function (function.php) file. This will open the function PHP code file.
Step 3: Copy the following code
You have to add this code to the theme function.php file, so first copy it.
function codeastrology_meta_description() {
global $post;
if ( is_singular() ) {
$des_post = strip_tags( $post->post_content );
$des_post = strip_shortcodes( $post->post_content );
$des_post = str_replace( array("\n", "\r", "\t"), ' ', $des_post );
$des_post = mb_substr( $des_post, 0, 300, 'utf8' );
echo '<meta name="description" content="' . $des_post . '" />' . "\n";
}
if ( is_home() ) {
echo '<meta name="description" content="' . get_bloginfo( "description" ) . '" />' . "\n";
}
if ( is_category() ) {
$des_cat = strip_tags(category_description());
echo '<meta name="description" content="' . $des_cat . '" />' . "\n";
}
}
add_action( 'wp_head', 'codeastrology_meta_description');
Step 4: Put the code in the function.php file and save it
You have to put this code in the function.php file.
So, scroll down the function.php file and put it at the bottom where the code ends.
Then click on the Update File button to save it.
It will help you show the meta description from the beginning of any post or page. It will automatically fetch the first 160 characters from the first paragraph. Also, it will fetch the post or page category and will show up as a meta keyword.
Note:
If at any time you are going to change your exiting theme, then this code will disappear automatically. So you have to enter this code again. Following these steps, you can easily add this code.
Bonus tip: Add Meta keyword tag
If you want to add a meta keyword tag, you can do it easily.
First, go to the function.php file and write the codes below.
function codeastrology_meta_tags() {
echo '<meta name="meta_name" content="meta_value" />';
}
add_action('wp_head', ' codeastrology_meta_tags');
Note:
You must add the code before the php? > closing tags.
FAQ
What are Meta Tags?
Meta tags provide concise information about a website or post to search engines. They are used to provide keywords and a brief description of the contents of the site. Meta tags are not seen by website visitors, but they are important for helping search engines understand what your website is about.
There are several different meta tags, but the most useful ones for SEO are the title tag, the meta description tag, and the keywords tag. The title tag is what shows up as the headline in search engine results pages (SERPs), so it’s important to make sure it accurately describes the contents of your site. The meta description tag is a brief summary of your site that appears under the title in SERPs, and you should use it to persuade people to click through to your site.
What are Meta Keywords?
Meta keywords are the terms or focus topics of your web page that you put in the description. They are not necessary for your page to be found by search engines, but they can help improve your ranking if you use them correctly. When choosing keywords, think about what people would type into a search engine to find your page. Try to use a variety of keywords that are relevant to your topic. You can also use Google AdWords to get ideas for keywords.
What is the Meta Title?
Meta titles are descriptions of pages and posts that you see in search engine results. They’re the short, descriptive texts under the link to your content. A good meta title is important for two reasons: it tells people what your content is about and it helps improve your SEO (search engine optimization) by telling Google and other search engines what your content is about.
When creating a meta title, it’s important to keep it short and sweet—no more than 60 characters. That’s because Google will truncate long titles in their search results, so you want to make sure that the most important information is at the beginning.
Your meta title should also be keyword-rich, so that it will help you rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
This is an example of the meta titles tag:
</title></head>aragraph about the article or post." />
Conclusion
In conclusion, adding meta descriptions in WordPress without a plugin is possible, but it can be done in a minute. You can also use a plugin to add meta descriptions to your website. There are many plugins available that make adding meta descriptions easy and quick. If you follow the steps, you can help improve your site’s SEO and get more traffic from search engines. By following the steps outlined in this article, you should be able to do it without too much trouble. And don’t forget, if all else fails, there’s always a plugin! Thanks for reading!
