SEO Optimization for Zendesk Help Center: Adding Meta Descriptions

Zendesk does not generate a meta description for all pages. Learn how to optimize the homepage and the contact form yourself.

Search engine optimization (SEO) helps your help center rank higher in Google and other search engines. Although Zendesk Guide has its own search function, visitors also want to find your content through external search engines. A good meta description is essential for this.

This article covers the following topics:

• What is a meta description?
• What does Zendesk Guide generate automatically?
• Optimizing article content
• Adding descriptions to categories and sections
• Adding meta descriptions to pages without automatic generation

What is a meta description?

A meta description is a short summary of a web page that appears under the page title in search results. It is a text snippet of up to 155-160 characters that describes what the page is about.

A meta description is not a direct ranking factor but does influence the click-through rate (CTR) from search results. A well-written meta description attracts more relevant visitors and can thus indirectly contribute to a better position in Google.

What does Zendesk Guide generate automatically?

Zendesk Guide automatically generates meta descriptions for most pages but excludes important pages such as the homepage and the request form.

Optimizing article content

The first 137 characters of your article are used as the meta description. Therefore, make sure you start each article with a direct summary or the answer to the question.

A common mistake is starting with a manual table of contents. That text is then used as the meta description—which is less ideal. Always place a table of contents after the opening sentence.

Adding descriptions to categories and sections

When creating a category or section, you can fill in a description. This is optional, but it is best practice to always do so. The description is used as the meta description tag, even if you do not display it visually on the page.

Adding meta descriptions via custom code

The following pages do not have a meta description by default:

• Homepage
• New request page
• Custom pages

With the code snippet below, you automatically add a meta description for the homepage and the request page. The texts are managed via Dynamic Content in Zendesk Guide, allowing you to set multilingual descriptions without having to adjust the code.

{{! Meta descriptions for home & newrequest }}
<script>
 (function() {
   let userLocale = window.location.pathname.split('/')[2];
   let currentPageType = window.location.pathname.slice(5 + userLocale.length);
   let setMeta = (description) => {
     let descriptionMeta = document.createElement('meta');
     descriptionMeta.setAttribute('name', 'description');
     descriptionMeta.setAttribute('content', description);
     document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].prepend(descriptionMeta);
   };
   let description = '';
   if (currentPageType == '') {
     description = "{{dc 'theme-home_meta_description'}}";
     setMeta(description);
   }
   else if (currentPageType == 'requests/new') {
     description = "{{dc 'theme-newrequest_meta_description'}}";
     setMeta(description);
   };
 })();
</script>

Installation
Follow these steps to add the code to your Zendesk Guide theme:

1. Go to Guide Admin → Customize design → Edit code.
2. Open the file document_head.hbs in the Templates folder.
3. Paste the code at the bottom of the file, before the closing </head> tag.
4. Click Save.

Create the following items in Admin Center → Dynamic Content:

• theme-home_meta_description — with variants for nl, en-US, and de
• theme-newrequest_meta_description — with variants for nl, en-US, and de

Do you have questions or need help with the implementation? Contact cloudmotion below.