What is a meta description?
A meta description is a short summary of a page placed in a <meta name="description"> tag in the <head>. Search engines may display it as the snippet under the title in search results, which makes it the page's pitch to a searcher deciding what to click.
Meta descriptions are not a ranking factor for Google. Their value is indirect: a description that matches what the searcher wants can raise click-through rate, and a good one gets reused when the page is shared.
How it works
Google treats the meta description as a suggestion. For each query it decides whether your description or a passage from the page better matches what was searched, and it frequently picks page text instead. A description that clearly summarizes the page wins more often than one that is vague or stuffed with keywords.
Snippets are truncated by pixel width. In practice that means around 150 to 160 characters on desktop and fewer on mobile. Longer descriptions are allowed; the extra text simply gets cut. Words that match the query are shown in bold, which is one reason to use the natural phrasing people search with.
Each page should have its own description. Identical descriptions across many pages are ignored in favor of generated snippets.
Example
<meta name="description" content="Use 1 gram of coffee for every 16 grams of water. This guide covers ratios for strong and mild cups, grind size, and a 3-minute pour schedule." />
It answers the likely question in the first sentence, then tells the reader what else they get. Compare Welcome to our coffee blog, where we write about coffee. which says nothing a searcher can use.
In WordPress
WordPress core does not output a meta description at all; themes rarely do either. SEO plugins add it. Hydrogen SEO generates one from a template per content type (for example %excerpt% for posts) and lets you write a custom description per post in the SEO Settings sheet, with a character count and live SERP preview. With a connected free account, the Hydrogen AI tab can suggest drafts. See SEO titles and meta descriptions and meta descriptions that earn clicks.
Common mistakes
- Leaving it empty on key pages and hoping Google picks a good passage.
- Copying the same description across a category of pages.
- Writing for bots, with a list of keywords instead of a sentence.
- Promising something the page does not have, which costs trust and clicks.
Common questions
Do meta descriptions affect rankings?
No. Google has said for years that the meta description is not a ranking factor. It can influence clicks, which is why it is still worth writing.
Why does Google ignore my meta description?
Google rewrites snippets when it finds page text that better matches the specific query. It happens often for long-tail searches and is not a penalty.