How to write good page titles and metatags

Call for action

The title and META-description is used by some search engines to present a summary of the web page along with the link to the page.
The search result will look like this:

• • Your web page title
  • Meta-tag description
  • Link to your site
  

So, this could be:
Fishing trips Alaska
Visit our site to see how to enjoy a great fishing trip to Alaska. Ever caught a salmon in front of an ice-mountain?

How to write good page titles

First, make sure that all of your web pages have unique titles. Go through each of your web pages and write a title that makes use of the most important keywords. The page title appears at the very top of your browser; it may or may not be the title you use in the text of your page.
Keep in mind that the page title is what users will see as the hyper linked title in search results, so the phrase should trigger users to click on the link and visit your site! We name this a “call for action”. The goal is to make titles that make people click and make use of your primary keywords for each page. If you want a page to rank well on "fishing trip Alaska" make sure to use those exact words in the title. Maybe a title like "Fishing Trip Alaska – Great Trips at Decent Prices" would work well for you.
Tip: balance between keyword and attention
To find the right balance between the use of your keywords and writing a catchy title that makes users click, we suggest you write a few titles for each page. Don't think too much about each of them - just write them down on a piece of paper. When you compare them side by side, it will often be easier to pick the best title.
Read more about writing good page titles

Writing good META-descriptions

The META-Description is used by some search engines to present a summary of the web page along with the Title and Link to the page. Not all search engines use the META-description. Some search engines use only the regular text on your web pages and some use a combination. All you can do is make sure you have valid META-descriptions on ALL your web pages so that search engines that use them have something to read.
TIP:
Limit your META-descriptions to 150-200 characters as most search engines do not read or list more than this.
You can see a list of which major search engines use META-descriptions and those that do not At Search Engine Watch

TIP:
In your SEO Effect, you can see how your web page is presented in most Search Results. This will help you better to define the call for action. For search engines that don’t use your Meta description, check the first part of your text content for call for actions.
Read more about Meta descriptions