Metadata
Generate and manage SEO metadata — slugs, meta descriptions, and read time.
Averi generates SEO metadata for your drafts so every piece of content is ready for search engines and AI tools before you publish. Metadata is created, edited, and saved without leaving the editor.
What Metadata Averi Generates
When you generate metadata, Averi produces three fields:
- Meta description — A concise summary of your content (target: 150–160 characters) used by search engines in results pages and by AI tools for context.
- URL slug — A clean, keyword-relevant URL path for the page.
- Read time — An estimated reading time displayed to visitors.
Your draft's focus keywords and long-tail keywords (created during the initial research and drafting process) are also shown in the metadata panel for reference. These aren't editable here — they come from the research that generated your draft.
Why Metadata Matters
Metadata is the first thing search engines and AI systems see about your content:
- Meta descriptions appear in Google search results and influence click-through rates. AI search tools also use them to decide whether to cite your content.
- URL slugs signal relevance to search engines. A clear, keyword-aligned slug performs better than a generic or auto-generated one.
- Read time sets reader expectations and can improve engagement — visitors are more likely to commit to an article when they know how long it takes.
Without metadata, your CMS or platform fills in defaults that are rarely optimized. Averi handles this so you don't have to write meta descriptions manually or guess at slugs.
How to Generate Metadata
Open your draft
Go to Drafting and open the content item you want to generate metadata for. The draft needs body content for Averi to analyze.
Click Generate Metadata
In the top-right corner of the editor, click the Generate Metadata button. The metadata modal opens and Averi automatically generates your metadata.
If metadata already exists for the draft, the button reads Metadata instead. Click it to view or edit your existing metadata.
Review and edit
The modal shows your generated meta description, slug, and read time. All three are editable:
- Meta description — Edit the text directly. A character counter helps you stay within the 150–160 character target.
- Slug — Edit to adjust your URL path. Averi automatically formats it as lowercase with hyphens.
- Read time — Adjust if needed.
Your focus keywords and long-tail keywords appear below for reference.
Save
Click Save to store your metadata. It's saved to your draft and will be included when you publish.
Regenerating Metadata
If you've made significant edits to your draft and want fresh metadata, open the metadata modal and click Regenerate with Averi AI. Averi re-analyzes your current content and produces updated metadata.
Regenerating overwrites your existing metadata. If you've manually edited your meta description or slug, save a copy before regenerating.
Metadata from Content Score
You don't always need to open the metadata modal directly. When you run Content Score, Averi may include a recommendation about your meta description. If it does, you'll see a Generate Metadata button right in the recommendations panel — clicking it runs the same generation process without leaving the score view.
Metadata and Publishing
When you publish content through a CMS integration, Averi passes your metadata — slug, meta description, and read time — to the connected platform automatically.
If your CMS integration doesn't have slug, meta description, or read time mapped to the correct fields, the metadata modal will show a warning. Check your integration's field mappings in Settings to make sure metadata flows through correctly.
Best Practices
- Generate metadata after your draft is mostly final. Metadata is based on your content, so generating it too early (before major edits) means you'll need to regenerate later.
- Keep meta descriptions between 150–160 characters. Shorter descriptions may not fully represent your content. Longer ones get truncated in search results.
- Make your slug readable and keyword-relevant. A good slug like
/content-scoring-guideoutperforms/post-12345in both search rankings and user trust. - Always review before saving. Averi's generated metadata is a strong starting point, but you know your audience and brand best. Adjust wording, tone, or keyword emphasis as needed.
Need Help?
Reach out to us at [email protected] - you'll always get a human to talk through solutions with.