I used to write the description as a keyword sentence. Switched to writing it like the opening line of the post — a specific promise plus what you get. Went from easy air fryer chicken thighs recipe, crispy air fryer chicken, quick weeknight dinner to "Crispy skin in 18 minutes, no flipping and no marinade. The trick is drying them properly and starting skin side down." Saves dropped about 15%, outbound clicks close to doubled over eight weeks. Saves feel nice in the dashboard but they don't pay for anything.
stopped writing descriptions for the algorithm, saves went down, clicks roughly doubled
2 replies
Saves got a lot less interesting to me once I worked out how many of them are people hoarding into a board they will never open again. Saves and clicks measure different intentions and you optimised for the one that sends you money. Fine trade.
You can have both though, this is a bit of a false choice. Specific promise in the first sentence, then a second sentence that happens to contain the phrase naturally. You're not picking between a keyword salad and zero keywords, there's a middle.
Join the conversation. Sign in to reply