Google Organic Results - huge meta description?

[SEO Lady]

I had a question today from a client that I didn't know the answer to

If the meta description is 150-160 characters how is it that this company has an extended feature of text below their title tag?

Is this because they are number 1 on Google Maps and have filled out their "About Us" section?

I'm being lazy as I've heard of changes but I can't recall the specific term Google uses to describe this (a bit like the "How to" is a knowledge graph?) so I'd thought I'd ask here and find out what it's called.

(Of course the client wants to have the same big result)

 

[makeusvisible]

The meta description can be longer these days, as can the TITLE.

It isnt quite as black and white as it used to be, as it is very device specific. This article is a good read on the topic;

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-titles-and-descriptions-2016/163812/

I'm generally working on the principal of keeping key points within the first 160 characters, but keeping in mind beyond this can appear sometimes, and on some platforms.

I wouldnt jump into reformatting 100% yet.... but have it at the back of your mind and as part of your testing.

 

[justinaldridge]

There is no limit to a title tag or meta description. The key thing to focus on is the bit that the user sees in the search result and the target terms. But, Google uses so many factors to rank pages these days that even if the title doesn't contain the keywords it can still rank.

The extended description you are seeing has been around for some time and it's Google seeing the result as highly relevant and offering more information in the results. The text does not necessarily have to come from the meta description.

Google rewrites titles and metas anyway depending on the search query.

 

[webgeek]

Google is indexing much more than it displays, hence the reason people are using longer than prescribed title/meta description/h1's.

It used to be the case I'd recommend staying within, at all costs, but not any more.

 

[SEO Lady]

More than 70 characters on an H1

Yes I recommended to write content to stay within the character limit but if you had something else to add then go ahead by all means.

From now on I will continue to write the meta etc within character limit with the keywords and most important first and embellish should I feel it's the right way to do it without looking spammy.

To be honest, I didn't read the long meta description
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