How can I ensure that the meta titles and meta descriptions I enter on my Webflow site are indexed correctly on the SERPs for better SEO?

To ensure your meta titles and descriptions are properly indexed on search engine results pages (SERPs), follow these Webflow-specific steps and best practices.

1. Set Meta Titles and Descriptions in Webflow

• Go to Pages Panel in the Webflow Designer.
• For each static page, click the gear icon next to the page name.
• Under SEO Settings, fill out the Meta Title and Meta Description fields.
• For dynamic CMS pages, open the CMS Template page, then:
• Click the gear icon for that Template Page.
• Use field variables like {{name}} or {{summary}} to dynamically fill the title and description.

2. Follow SEO Best Practices for Content

• Keep meta titles under 60 characters and descriptions under 155–160 characters to avoid truncation.
• Include primary keywords while maintaining a natural-sounding phrase.
• Make each title and description unique per page.

3. Publish Your Changes

• After updating titles and descriptions, click Publish in the top-right corner.
• Ensure you're publishing to the live domain (not just the Webflow.io staging domain).

4. Check Indexing with Google Search Console

• If you haven’t already, connect your domain to Google Search Console.
• Use the URL Inspection tool to test whether your meta data is correctly crawled for a specific page.
• Click "Request Indexing" if you’ve recently made updates.

5. Submit a Sitemap

• Go to Webflow Project Settings → SEO tab.
• Make sure the auto-generated sitemap (/sitemap.xml) is enabled.
• In Google Search Console, submit the sitemap URL to help Google discover all your pages.

6. Prevent Search Engines From Overwriting Titles

• While you can't fully control how Google displays titles/descriptions, increasing their relevance helps:
• Ensure the meta title closely matches the page content and headings (e.g., H1).
• Avoid keyword stuffing or clickbait phrasing.
• Build backlinks and improve on-page signals to make your meta data more trustworthy.

7. Test and Monitor with SEO Tools

• Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMRush, or Screaming Frog to crawl your site and verify that your meta titles and descriptions are present and optimized.
• Use Google’s Rich Results Test to double-check your structured data (if applicable).

Summary

To ensure your meta titles and descriptions are indexed correctly in Webflow, enter them under each page’s SEO Settings, publish the updates, and verify with Google Search Console. Follow SEO best practices to increase the likelihood that Google will use your meta content as intended.