Menu
Cart
BAK Digital
Cart
  • Home
  • What we do
    • Social Media Marketing
    • Email Marketing
    • Pay Per Click Marketing
    • Search Engine Optimisation
    • Web Development
    • Landing Page Design
    • Pay Per Click Management
    • Digital Consultancy
  • Courses
  • Ebooks
  • My Account
    • My Courses
  • Customer Services
    • Contact Us
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Notice
Close Menu
Close Cart
size-is-not-everything

Why Are Google’s Snippets in Search Results Longer Now?

Knowledge Level Intermediate SEO, Web Development

You may have noticed from your day-to-day Googles that the snippets in search results have increased in size. But not all of them, just some of them. Why? Because Google has changed the way that they populate their snippets in search results.

Why has Google changed their snippets?

For one simple reason; to make it even easier for users to find the information that they are looking for. Google summed up the reason for the changes pretty comprehensively themselves. Here’s what Search Engine Land was told when they received *confirmation from Google about these changes;

We recently made a change to provide more descriptive and useful snippets, to help people better understand how pages are relevant to their searches. This resulted in snippets becoming slightly longer, on average.

So, what have they changed exactly?

Size isn’t everything. Or, is it now?

Whilst it is a well-known fact that size isn’t everything, Google does seem to think that bigger is better now. With regards to snippets that is, obviously.

The old character limit for snippets was 160; that now appears to have been doubled. So, Google has now got a whopping 320 characters to play around with in your snippets. And yes, I do mean that Google has got them to play around with, not you. I’ll explain in a mo. But first…

If you read our post which answers the question ‘What is a Meta Description‘, you will know that we do like a jelly-themed example. So, we thought we would show you the difference that extra 160 characters can make; using jelly related searches. Of course.

how-make-jelly-short-snippet

arrow

how-make-jelly-search-snippet

Which one would you click on?

“We might use your meta. We might not.”

If Google could speak to you, that’s probably what they would now say to you after every time you provide them with a meta description.

The most significant outcome of the changes to snippets is the fact that Google now chooses whether or not to show your meta description. Before December 2017, if you were to create a meta description for your web page, Google would display it in the snippet. And that was that. But now, Google takes the user’s search query and asks the question, “Is this meta description really providing the information that the user is looking for? Or, is there some other content on that page that would be better suited to the user’s search?” The answer to this question will determine what they display in the snippet.

So, Google will now show what they want to show in search results snippets. If they like your meta description and believe that it provides the user with the information that they are looking for, then they will use it. On the other hand, if Google feels like your meta description isn’t exactly what the user is looking for, but there is some other content on your page that’s ideal, then it’s unlikely that they will use all/any of your meta in the snippet.

You can’t beat a good statistic

It won’t be news to anyone when we say that Google is becoming more intelligent every year. So, it’s hardly surprising that they are now using their sophisticated crawler to show users the most relevant snippet possible.

That’s not to say, however, that providing a meta description is pointless. There were some really interesting statistics that emerged from **research conducted by Moz just before Christmas. They looked at just over 70,000 search results that had meta descriptions and here’s what they found:

  • In 35.9% of cases, Google displayed the meta description exactly as provided;
  • In 51.3% of cases, Google either displayed the original meta description as provided or served up the original meta description and added more text to it;
  • Finally, in 54.5% of cases, Google either displayed the entire meta description provided or a shortened version of it.

It is also worth bearing in mind that the 54.5% doesn’t account for instances where Google has chopped and changed the original meta description. So, the actual percentage of cases where Google used various parts of the original meta description in the snippet, could be significantly higher.

The long and short of it…

Basically, when Google are populating their snippets now, they could use all of your meta description. They may just show parts of your meta description. Alternatively, they could show none of it at all!


*Google’s confirmation to Search Engine Land of their changes to snippets.

**Statistics on meta descirptions used in snippets from research conducted by Moz.

Headlines and Taglines – But what about Grablines What is a Meta Description?

Related Posts

youtube bumper machine 6 second ad blog graphic

Pay Per Click, Social Media, Web Development

YouTube’s ‘Bumper Machine’ – New 6 Second Ad Tool

Web App vs Mobile App

Web Development

Mobile Apps and Web Apps – What’s the Difference?

Product Page Converts

Web Development

How to Create a Product Page That Converts

Index of all Knowledge Articles

All Knowledge Articles

Missed a Newsletter?

Newsletters Archive

Affiliates

Affilaite Login

Recent Knowledge Articles

  • Hidden Likes Count on Instagram – What Might Happen
  • YouTube’s ‘Bumper Machine’ – New 6 Second Ad Tool
  • LinkedIn’s New Reactions – 2019 Update
Back To Top
BAK Digital
© BAK Digital 2021
BAK Digital is a trading name of Brooks and Kirk Digital
Brooks and Kirk Digital LTD is registered in England and Wales. Registration Number 12362084
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptReject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.