We design, drive, and influence seamless experiences for your practice across multiple digital channels. Transform every touchpoint with a prospective patient into an actionable lead.

Acquire. Convert. Retain. Advance

Plastic Surgeons
Aesthetic Physycians
Medical Spas
Opthalmology
Dermatology

Obgyn’s

We design, drive, and influence seamless experiences for your practice across multiple digital channels. Transform every touchpoint with a prospective patient into an actionable lead.

Acquire. Convert. Retain. Advance

Category , ,

What You Need to Know About Google’s Longer Snippets

What You Need to Know About Google’s Longer Snippets

Back in late November, Google updated its search results to show longer snippets in search results. In this article, I’ll dive into exactly what that means and how it affects your practice’s SEO.

Before we get into details about the latest update, it’s worth pointing out that the snippets I’m referring to are directly tied to a website’s meta description. I’m not referring to the boxed “featured snippet” that you sometimes see in search results. The featured snippets tend to show up when a user has a specific question or does a long-tail search, as you can see below…

featured snippet in search results

Click or tap to enlarge

The longer snippets I’m referring to are actually the meta descriptions that show up underneath the blue hyperlinks you see in search results. Meta descriptions, along with title tags, are two of the main components of on-page SEO.

However, in the past Google would put limits on how much of the title and description would show in search results. This was often viewed as somewhere in the range of 57-70 characters for title tags and 160-170 for meta descriptions. Many WordPress SEO plugins, such as Yoast and All in One SEO, list these limits in the title tag and meta description fields, and if you go over you’ll see some kind of warning, as if you’re doing something harmful.

character limit for titles and descriptions

Click or tap to enlarge

With the most recent update to Google’s search results, your organic listings can display nearly double the number of characters. According to SISTRIX research, 90% of search results prior to November 16, 2017, had a description of two rows or less (roughly 170 characters or less). By December 17th, nearly half of search results showed a description of three rows or more.

Below is an example of the same search you see in the graphic above, but we’re now highlighting the length of the meta descriptions. As you can see, the first two results are 276 and 301 characters, respectively.

 

Click or tap to enlarge

So how long can meta descriptions now be?

Google’s Danny Sullivan, former Chief Content Office at Search Engine Land, noted on Twitter that you likely won’t see more than 320 characters in search results.

So what does this mean for my practice?

Click or tap to enlarge

 

For starters, you can now write longer, more in-depth descriptions for every new page or post on your website and it may show in search results. Your ability to thoroughly summarize the content in a way that entices a click will be crucial. That said, Google’s goal here is to provide more information, and with more information, users may not even need to click your link because they’ve got their answer.

If search results and descriptions are more insightful you’ll see fewer clicks from patients in the research phase. Your click-through rate will drop, which isn’t ideal. However, it’s safe to assume that these same prospective patients, who in the past might have clicked to get more info during their research phase, likely drove up your bounce rate on certain pages after they found what they’re looking for.

Lastly, since the descriptions are now longer, the individual search results take up more real estate. As noted above, descriptions used to be two lines or less, and now we’re seeing 3-4 lines. This means results are getting pushed further down, resulting in fewer impressions and clicks for results near the bottom of page 1.

The caveat

Before you conclude: “I need to run and lengthen all my meta descriptions” take a deep breath. In many instances, Google isn’t even actually pulling your meta description in the description field of your search results. In many cases, they’re pulling content from your page. Therefore, you don’t need to update every page on your website, but I would start by picking the top 5-10 content-heavy pages (think procedure pages and not specials or gallery pages) – based on Google Analytics data – and “enhance” your meta description on them.

Google’s John Mueller pointed out in a recent SEO roundtable that meta descriptions aren’t going to affect your rankings, whether they’re short or long. However, they can influence the way patients see your website and whether they click to learn more.

If you have any questions about the recent snippets update or SEO in general, feel free to leave us a note here or call us at 877-673-7096 x2.

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin

Related Posts

Friday, September 22nd, 2023
5:16 pm

TRBO ADvance is a multichannel digital advertising and marketing agency specializing in Medical Beauty. We combine great design, cutting-edge technology, and proven business strategies into a clear message powerful enough to propel practices forward.

Our Services

Patients finding your practice is a major key to building your client base. We help physicians and aestheticians build thriving practices by improving your website’s position in search results and page rankings.

We transform your business while you transform your patients. 

Your website is a showplace for aesthetic beauty and the rich emotional rewards every patient wants to feel. Information about your practice, staff, and specialties is displayed in a modern setting to invoke all the possibilities available to your patients.

Our web design brings beauty to life through innovation and ever-changing technology.

Our expertly crafted email marketing campaigns help you reach your patients on a whole new level. With today’s fast pace, timely communication keeps warm leads warm, helps patients stay informed about your practice, and saves you invaluable time.

Retain existing patients and bring in new, prospective patients easier than ever.

With marketing services tailored to your practice’s individual strengths, TRBO ADvance helps you convert consultations into patients.

Through the science and psychology of patient decision-making, we position your practice as the best choice for helping patients achieve their aesthetic goals.

The Medical Beauty world is a marriage of art and science designed to bring patients joy and confidence in themselves.

We bring creativity to that relationship with compelling writing, on-point branding, informative videos, smooth photo galleries, and engaging web and email content to showcase your practice’s exacting standards of patient care and results.

TRBO ADvance strategizes solutions for your practice using our considerable industry knowledge, so you take advantage of the trends and topics which most interest patients.

We offer a blueprint for your practice to flourish and grow.

Finesse in advertising is a must for the modern Medical Beauty practice. Patients are savvier than ever, and traditional sales pitches are best left in the past.

We’ve mastered the art of digital media advertising to bring attention to your practice with style and expertise.

As a gateway to potential patients, social media engagement is a major component to building successful branding for your practice.

Interactive information and educational exchanges with prospective clients can increase your website traffic and your reach, so you can connect, build trust, and increase your digital footprint.

SEO
Web Design
Email Marketing
Conversion Services
Creative Direction
Strategic Consulting
Digital Media Advertising
Social Media

Patients finding your practice is a major key to building your client base. We help physicians and aestheticians build thriving practices by improving your website’s position in search results and page rankings. We transform your business while you transform your patients.

Your website is a showplace for aesthetic beauty and the rich emotional rewards every patient wants to feel. Information about your practice, staff, and specialties is displayed in a modern setting to invoke all the possibilities available to your patients. Our web design brings beauty to life through innovation and ever-changing technology.

Our expertly crafted email marketing campaigns help you reach your patients on a whole new level. With today’s fast pace, timely communication keeps warm leads warm, helps patients stay informed about your practice, and saves you invaluable time. Retain existing patients and bring in new, prospective patients easier than ever.

With marketing services tailored to your practice’s individual strengths, TRBO ADvance helps you convert consultations into patients. Through the science and psychology of patient decision-making, we position your practice as the best choice for helping patients achieve their aesthetic goals.

The Medical Beauty world is a marriage of art and science designed to bring patients joy and confidence in themselves. We bring creativity to that relationship with compelling writing, on-point branding, informative videos, smooth photo galleries, and engaging web and email content to showcase your practice’s exacting standards of patient care and results.

TRBO ADvance strategizes solutions for your practice using our considerable industry knowledge, so you take advantage of the trends and topics which most interest patients. We offer a blueprint for your practice to flourish and grow.

Finesse in advertising is a must for the modern Medical Beauty practice. Patients are savvier than ever, and traditional sales pitches are best left in the past. We’ve mastered the art of digital media advertising to bring attention to your practice with style and expertise.

As a gateway to potential patients, social media engagement is a major component to building successful branding for your practice. Interactive information and educational exchanges with prospective clients can increase your website traffic and your reach, so you can connect, build trust, and increase your digital footprint.

Patients finding your practice is a major key to building your client base. We help physicians and aestheticians build thriving practices by improving your website’s position in search results and page rankings. We transform your business while you transform your patients. transform your business while you transform your patients.

Patients finding your practice is a major key to building your client base. We help physicians and aestheticians build thriving practices by improving your website’s position in search results and page rankings. We

Your website is a showplace for aesthetic beauty and the rich emotional rewards every patient wants to feel. Information about your practice, staff, and specialties is displayed in a modern setting to invoke all the possibilities available to your patients. Our web design brings beauty to life through innovation and ever-changing technology.

With marketing services tailored to your practice’s individual strengths, TRBO ADvance helps you convert consultations into patients. Through the science and psychology of patient decision-making, we position your practice as the best choice for helping patients achieve their aesthetic goals.

The Medical Beauty world is a marriage of art and science designed to bring patients joy and confidence in themselves. We bring creativity to that relationship with compelling writing, on-point branding, informative videos, smooth photo galleries, and engaging web and email content to showcase your practice’s exacting standards of patient care and results.

TRBO ADvance strategizes solutions for your practice using our considerable industry knowledge, so you take advantage of the trends and topics which most interest patients. We offer a blueprint for your practice to flourish and grow.

Finesse in advertising is a must for the modern Medical Beauty practice. Patients are savvier than ever, and traditional sales pitches are best left in the past. We’ve mastered the art of digital media advertising to bring attention to your practice with style and expertise.

Partner Network