Meta Description

The meta description is a short HTML summary of a page. Google often shows it as the grey snippet text beneath the title in search results. It is not a ranking factor, but it is prime advertising space: a good one persuades the searcher to click your result over the others.

Write a unique, compelling description of around 150–160 characters that summarises the page and includes a reason to click, using the searcher’s language. Include the target term because Google bolds matching query words in the snippet. Do not stuff keywords or duplicate descriptions across pages. Note that Google rewrites descriptions for most queries by pulling relevant text from the page, so write strong on-page copy too.

Senior practitioners prioritise meta descriptions on high-impression, low-CTR commercial pages where the click is worth most, and accept that for informational queries Google will usually generate its own snippet. They manage descriptions at template level for scaled pages, treat them as conversion copy rather than SEO boxes to tick, and measure success by CTR movement, not by whether the tag is present.