What a meta description looks like
It sits in the <head> of the page and is invisible on the page itself:
<meta name="description" content="Relaxed wedding photography across London. See full galleries and book a free 20-minute call.">Does the meta description affect rankings?
No. Google confirmed back in 2009 that it doesn't use the meta description to rank pages. Its value is in the click: the title and description are your only chance to convince someone to choose your result over the nine others on the page. More clicks from the same position means more visitors without ranking any higher.
Why Google sometimes shows a different description
Google often replaces your meta description with text from the page itself, when it thinks that text answers the search better. This is normal. It happens more for searches your description doesn't match, and less when your description is accurate and specific to the page.
How long should a meta description be?
Google cuts descriptions by pixel width, not by a fixed number of characters. As a rule of thumb, about 150 to 160 characters fits on desktop. Put the most important point first, so it survives if the end is cut.
How to write one that gets clicks
- Answer "why this result?" Say what the visitor gets on this page that they won't get elsewhere.
- Be specific. Real details, prices, places and numbers beat adjectives like "professional" and "high quality".
- Match the search. Use the words people search for, naturally. Google highlights them in the results.
- Write one per page. Duplicate descriptions make every page look the same.
- Be honest. A description that promises something the page doesn't deliver gets the click, then loses the visitor.
Examples
| Description | Verdict |
|---|---|
| "Welcome to our website. We are a professional company offering high quality services." | Could describe any business. No reason to click. |
| "Accountants, accounting, tax, tax returns, bookkeeping, London accountants." | A keyword list, not a sentence. |
| "Self-assessment tax returns filed by a chartered accountant for a fixed £250. Based in Islington, appointments within a week." | Specific, local and gives a reason to choose it. |
How to check your meta descriptions
View the page source and search for name="description", or run a crawler across the site to find pages where it is missing or duplicated. Then compare with Google Search Console: pages with many impressions but few clicks are where a better title and description pay off first. In the websites we build, every page has its own title and description field in the CMS.
Frequently asked questions
Is the meta description a ranking factor?
No. Google doesn't use it for ranking. It matters because it influences how many people click your result.
What happens if I don't write a meta description?
Google builds a snippet from your page text. It may be fine, but you lose control over how your page is presented.
Should every page have a different meta description?
Yes. Each page should describe what is specific to it. Identical descriptions make your pages look interchangeable in the results.
Lay Nadji is the founder of ShiftCode, with over 25 years of experience in IT and 15 years in the web industry, working with small businesses, luxury brands and professional services on SEO, content and websites.