Every few months someone asks whether meta descriptions are still worth writing, usually right after reading that Google ignores them half the time.
Both things they've heard are true. Meta descriptions aren't a ranking factor, and Google often shows a different snippet. I still think they're one of the best uses of ten minutes in SEO. Here's why.
What a meta description actually does
Ranking gets you onto the results page. The snippet decides whether anyone picks you. Two results in positions three and four can get very different numbers of clicks, and the difference is usually the title and the description.
Your meta description is the only part of a search result you write purely as a pitch. Treat it like ad copy, because that's what it is.
"But Google rewrites them anyway"
It does, often. Google picks a snippet based on the search, so for a query your description doesn't address, it pulls a passage from the page instead.
That's not a reason to skip it. It's a reason to write a description that matches the main thing people search for when they land on that page. For that query, a good description usually wins. Without one, Google picks for you every time, and it doesn't always pick well.
A simple formula
- Say what the reader gets. Not what the page "is about". What they'll walk away with.
- Add the reason to pick you. The detail that makes your result better than the one above it: free, a price, a number, a timeframe.
- Stop before it gets cut.
A couple of examples:
| Weak | Better |
|---|---|
| Learn about our accounting services for small businesses. | Bookkeeping and tax returns for small businesses, from $149 a month. Fixed price, no surprise bills, and a real accountant you can call. |
| This page contains information about sourdough bread. | A beginner's sourdough recipe that works the first time: one loaf, 24 hours, and no special equipment beyond a mixing bowl. |
How long should it be?
There's no official limit. Google truncates by width, and in practice about 150 to 160 characters survives on desktop. On mobile the cut usually comes sooner, so put the important part in roughly the first 120.
Don't pad a short description to hit a number, and don't write 300 characters hoping some of it survives. Write what's useful and make sure the start can stand on its own.
Mistakes I see all the time
- The same description on every page. Usually a site-wide default. It's worse than having none, because it tells Google it's useless.
- Quotation marks. A double quote can cut the description short in some templates. Use single quotes or rephrase.
- Keyword lists. Nobody clicks a result that reads like a tag cloud.
- Describing the page instead of the benefit. "On this page you'll find..." wastes the most valuable words you have.
Where to start
You don't need to rewrite every page. Start with the ten that already get the most impressions in Search Console. They're already showing up in search, so a better description can turn those impressions into clicks without changing your rankings at all.
If your description could sit under any page on your site, it doesn't really belong under any of them.
