SEO Basics for Authors: What the Hell Is Metadata and How Do I Use It?
Okay, so maybe “use” isn’t the right term here. But you’ve got the basics of your author website set up and you’re on a roll with designing it, putting up your gorgeous book covers, filling out all the links and book blurbs, right?
Let’s talk about metadata.
Metadata is a little more nuanced than just throwing some words on your homepage. It’s that first glance across a dark, smoky bar, when the protagonist and the “love interest” first see each other. It’s that initial spark of a feeling, of thinking, “They look intriguing. I think I want to get to know them.”
Or, in murder mysteries, when a serial killer first lays eyes on his next victim for all you fellow thriller lovers out there.
So, although metadata sounds intimidating and code-heavy (it’s really not, I promise), you definitely don’t want to ignore it on your website. It’s a vital ingredient in the magical SEO potion to make sure readers are finding your site on search engines.
Most drag-and-drop website builders like Squarespace and Wix (I personally use Wix for my own author website (please bear with me, I’ve been a little busy with work to maintain my website much). They have integrated, easy-to-use SEO tools, and metadata is included in those tools.
So, what exactly do I mean when I talk about metadata? Here’s a screenshot of my own meta title and meta description on Google that I obviously need to update because I’ve been slacking:
SIDE NOTE: Since creating this article, I've switched from Google to DuckDuckGo with the most recent Google Core Algorithm update and their announcement that they were pivoting to more AI.
What Metadata Actually Is
Going back to our smoky bar metaphor, metadata is your absolute first impression on search engine users. It’s what they see before even clicking on the link to your website.
It’s the text on the spine of your book, your one chance to pitch your yourself before search users scroll past to look at other sites on their SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).
(There is more to metadata than just your title and description, but we'll get into that another time. For the sake of this post, I will be focusing on titles and descriptions.)
It is the preview text that shows on a search page that users can click on to go to your website.
The two most important types of metadata for authors are:
Page titles (also called title tags)
Meta descriptions
Simple, right? Almost! There’s a bit more to it than that, so let me explain.
Page Titles: The Most Important Metadata You Control
Your page title is the clickable headline that appears in search results. It’s shorter than the meta description, but it’s your first chance to hook a reader. The problem that I see authors struggle with? There is a limited number of characters to hook that reader.
That’s right. Characters. Not words. And that includes spaces.
You want to keep your page title to no more than 60–65 characters, otherwise it will get cut off on SERPs.
That means it needs to be short and to the point. No flowery language, and I highly advise against using emojis. You want search users to have a good idea of who you are and what you write. But, y’know, really concise.
If you’ve done your on-page SEO keywords correctly, those potential readers should already have an idea of what you write based on the search query they entered. They’re trusting search engines to show them relevant results for something like murder mystery books like Karin Slaughter.
For authors, I would advise trying to include (but only if you have the space):
your author name
your genre or subgenre
the purpose of the page
Examples of some page titles similar to the format I like to use:
Newsletter Signup | Allie Harper | Mystery & Thriller Author
Books | Author Allie Harper | Serial Killer Fiction
Author Allie Harper | Crime & Thriller Fiction
Page titles not only help engines understand what your page is about, they help readers decide whether to click. Again, they should be quick, easy to read, and concise. Remember all that keyword research you did for your on-page content? Page titles are a great place to utilize some of those keywords you’re targeting.
My best tips for creating page titles for your author website:
Make sure each page has a unique page title
Use natural language, so don’t try to be fancy
Vary the keywords you use, and make sure not to stuff keywords
Avoid vague titles like “Home” or “Welcome” without any other descriptors
If you only optimize one piece of metadata, make it this one.
Meta Descriptions Are Your Reader Hook
Meta descriptions are the short blurbs that appear under the page title in search results.
While meta descriptions don’t directly influence SERP rankings, they can influence your CTR — your “clickthrough rate.” Any engine analyzes how many search engine users click on your link when it displays your pages in its results. If more people click on your link, that engine sees that yes, this is a relevant result for these particular search queries.
In simple terms, the more people who click on your link, the more Google trusts your website, and therefore the more engines will display your website.
(Okay, so it’s a little more nuanced than that, but that’s the basic gist of it. Learn more about EEAT and how Google “judges” websites here.)
That means your meta description is really where you hook search engine users. If the page title is the title and name on the front and spine of your book, the meta description is the blurb on the back. (Can we all agree that we want book descriptions, not sponsored “praise for the book” on the back cover? For the love of all that is holy... )
For authors, meta descriptions should:
Clearly describe the purpose of a page (Are they signing up for a newsletter? Are they looking for content/trigger warnings? Are they looking for where to buy your book?)
Speak directly to readers without getting too fancy
Clarify genre and, potentially, audience
Be around 150–160 characters (at the very most, but I suggest making good use of this character limit).
Examples:
Sign up for mystery author Allie Harper’s newsletter and receive updates on writing, book releases, and giveaways and download a free series bible template!
Looking for dark murder mysteries for adults with a female sleuth? Learn about author Allie Harper’s Nancy Drew x Karin Slaughter series, The Kylie Bell Chronicles.
As a professional SEO specialist in the marketing industry, the meta descriptions I wrote for clients are different from what I advise authors to do. For B2B and B2C clients, I also had to focus a lot on “local SEO” so their pages show up in those “near me” type searches, so it adds another layer of complexity. As an author, you’re selling to a geographically wider audience, so don’t worry about local SEO.
In the same vein, they are kind of similar: You are trying to sell yourself to search engine users, just to a different kind of audience.
Let's Leave Clever Quips Out of Metadata
This is a big mistake I see people make. Metadata isn’t the place for poetic ambiguity, vague descriptions, or even mystery for mystery’s sake. You want your metadata to be clear and obvious to potential readers. They should know what they’re clicking on when they look at your link.
That means your metadata should explain:
What kind of books you write
The purpose of the page
Where Authors Should Add Metadata
Most website builders make metadata easy to edit. Look for:
“SEO settings”
“Page settings”
“Search preview”
Authors should, at the very least, add metadata to pages such as:
Homepage
Book or series pages
About page
Major blog posts
If you find metadata overwhelming, focus on your main pages, such as the ones listed above. As I stated in my last post, don’t worry about having everything absolutely perfect on the first try. Just don’t forget about adding metadata to the rest of your pages.
SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. It can take months to start seeing real results of your SEO strategy. If you think your pages aren’t reaching the right audience because of low CTRs, try tweaking your metadata.
The Common Metadata Mistakes Authors (and my clients) Make
Leaving metadata blank
Using the same title and description on every page
Being too vague (“Author Website-Homepage”)
Keyword stuffing (Side thought: I had one client try to stuff 20 different local towns into every page title because they thought it would guarantee their website shows up for people in those towns. Trust me, Google doesn’t need you to list every incorporated village in a 100-mile radius. That MUM model? It will understand what area a search user is looking for with just a few well-targeted keywords.)
Forgetting the reader entirely
Metadata is small, but it’s mighty. These tiny snippets shape first impressions.
The Puzzle of a Website: Search Engine Optimization Is Just One Piece
There’s a lot that goes into an author’s platform and brand, from social media to guest posts, podcast appearances to bookseller websites. Google is powerful enough that it can crawl all of that to uncover who you are as an author.
(If you’re just getting started building your author platform, don’t fret. Focus on what makes you unique as an author and what your book offers potential readers. Platforms take time and a f*ckton of effort and hard work. Perseverance is key, so don’t give up if you don’ see traffic to your website right away.)
That’s why putting out the right flags with your website, which should serve as the backbone of your author platform, is so important. A decent SEO strategy can help with that as your platform grows. If you’re doing SEO right, it should help the right readers find you. It should set accurate expectations. And, more importantly, it should convince those right readers to click on your website.
Think of metadata as the handshake before the conversation. In search engine optimization, clear and confident beat mysterious and ambiguous every time.
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