Help with Effective Meta Description

[CsmBill]

Can someone give me a sample of an effective meta description tag? All of the best practice stuff I read doesn't talk about how to raise CTR. It seems to me that this is a neglected area of SEO, and we want to do this right. Obviously, we will need to test.

For example, my main home page keyword is "IT Support"

Things I might want to put in the tag:

Free Network Assessments

100% Risk Free Trials

"Relentless IT Support" (Major Theme)

30 Years of Experience (since 1984)

Eliminate your IT Support Headaches Forever (Too long)

Call to action?

BTW, Thanks to everyone for your help. This is a great community. Solid advice from experts.

Here's an example of what I would create

Relentless IT Support Since 1984. Trust and Accountability. 100% Risk Free Trials. Contact us today for Free IT Assessment.

[KarlBantleman]

Hi Rahul,

Your meta needs to have a call to action in it as well as containing your main keyword for that page. In my experience, I would suggest having your call to action first and then a reason why they would want to visit your website.

For example, "Contact us today for your free IT assessment from a company with nearly 30 years experience".

[KevinBudzynski]

Based on my experiences sentences work better, but need to match the query as close as possible. Also, it is essential to use the target kw as naturally as possible and include a CTA.

[LynnPatchett]

Hi Rahul,

I prefer a short overview of what the page/company is all about with a call to action at the end. I also much prefer proper sentences and not bullet points or similar. Something like:

XXXXXX company has been offering trustworthy 24/7 IT support services since 1984. Contact us today for a free IT assessment and a 100% risk free trial.

Check out this serp preview tool, it is really useful in getting an idea of how your site will actually show up, I use it all the time! http://www.seomofo.com/snippet-optimizer.html

[DanielFreedman]

Are you any good at what you?

How wil the prospective customer benefit form hiring you?

Do you have satisfied customers ?

Who is your target audience?

You need to hit as many of these crucial points as possible. It's hard! Writing meta descriptions is a bit like writing haiku.

Mentioning both the free assessment and free trial may be a mistake. It's a mixed message that is overly complicated.

Maybe something like:

Thousands of satisfied customers love our over- the- top IT support. Find out why during your free trial. May we delight you?

or:

With over 30 years experience, we delight customers with our over-the-top 24/7 IT support. Ask for a free trial today.