Meta Descriptions are shorter again!
In our constant attempts to keep up with all things Google, Capitol Social researches the latest news from Search Engines to make sure our clients can be found on the internet.
Why else would you have a website!?
We also recommend our clients use Yoast for their SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on their WordPress websites. Yoast provides a free version of their plugin that guides you through the basics of optimizing your site’s listing on SERPs (Search Engine Results Page.) Meta descriptions are the most important aspect of SEO.
What is a Meta Description?
The meta description is a snippet of up to (fill in the blank depending on Google…) characters – a tag in HTML – that summarizes a page’s content. Search engines show the meta description in search results so that your potential client, voter, or donor can see if your webpage is what they’re searching for.
Here’s the problem…Google limits the number of characters they show on the SERP, and they keep changing their minds! Look at this SERP when searching for the latest news on meta descriptions. Notice the different maximum lengths mentioned? This is important, because if your description is too long, Google cuts it off, mid-sentence.
How can you keep up with the Ups and Downs of Meta Description Lengths??? Yoast!
If you don’t have minions in your office to keep up with the latest in SEO, you need to use Yoast. You will receive emails, tutorials, and the plugin on your website adjusts with the latest algorithms from Google.
Here’s an article 
by Yoast Project Manager Marieke van de Rakt that provides very helpful news that Meta Descriptions should now be reduced to 150-170 characters. This is the first time there is not a definite limit as Google has announced it will decide if the description is useful..or not.
The important thing to remember in all of this is to make sure you have a good SEO plugin on your site, and add meta descriptions! Yoast will make that task so much easier, and effective.