How to write a good meta description

The meta description is a short summary in your page's HTML. Search engines often show it under your title in the results. It does not directly change rankings, but a clear description can make more people click your result instead of someone else's.

Where it lives

In the page head: <meta name="description" content="…">. In WordPress it is usually set by an SEO plugin such as Yoast or Rank Math, in the box under the editor.

How long should it be?

Aim for about 140–160 characters. Longer text is often cut off with "…". Very short descriptions waste the space you have to convince the reader.

A simple formula

1. Say what the page gives the reader ("Learn how to grow tomatoes at home").
2. Add the most useful detail ("how much sun, how often to water, when to plant").
3. Use the main phrase people search for, naturally, once.

Common mistakes

• The same description on many pages. Each page should have its own; duplicates make pages look alike.
• No description at all. Search engines then pick a random sentence from the page.
• Keyword stuffing. Repeating a phrase reads badly and does not help.
• Promises the page does not keep. Visitors leave quickly when the page is not what was promised.

Search engines sometimes write their own snippet even when you have a good description. That is normal and outside anyone's control.

Our SEO audit lists pages with missing, duplicate or too-long descriptions, and AI suggestions can propose a new one for you to copy into your SEO plugin.