Google shows a different snippet: why your meta description is not used

First, make sure the tag is what you think

curl -s https://example.com/page/ | grep -io '<meta[^>]*name=.description.[^>]*>'

• No output: there is no description, so Google has only page text. See missing meta description.
• Two lines: two tags, usually from two plugins or a theme. Remove one; the steps are in fixing duplicate meta output.
• An old description: a cache, or Google has not recrawled since you changed it. Check the last crawl date in URL Inspection.

Then test with the right search. Snippets depend on the query. Search for the page's main target phrase, not site:example.com, which often shows different snippets from a real search.

Why Google picks page text instead

The query is not covered by the description. Someone searches for a detail in your fourth section. Google quotes that section, because it shows the searcher the page has what they asked for. A description cannot anticipate every long-tail query, and should not try.

The description is generic. "Welcome to our website. We offer quality products and great service." says nothing a searcher can use.

It is duplicated across pages. A single description used site-wide, or a template that produces the same text for every product, is discounted.

It is a list of keywords and not a sentence.

It is very short, so page text offers more.

It does not match the page. A description promising pricing on a page with no prices.

Google's guidance asks for a description that is unique to the page and accurately summarises it, and suggests including the specific facts a searcher would want, such as price, author or date, where relevant.

Write descriptions that get used

1. Answer the main query in the first sentence. If the page targets "how to descale a kettle", the description should say how, briefly.
2. Use the words searchers use. Matching terms are shown in bold, and a description containing the query's terms is a stronger candidate.
3. Add the facts that decide a click: what is included, who it is for, a number, a price, a time.
4. Write it for one page. If it could be pasted onto another page unchanged, rewrite it.
5. Mind the length without obsessing. Google has no fixed character limit for descriptions; snippets are truncated to fit the display width, which varies by device. Around 120 to 160 characters usually shows in full on desktop. Check yours in the meta description length checker or the SERP snippet preview.

In Hydrogen SEO, write the description in the page's SEO Settings sheet; a value there overrides the template under Titles & Meta. For large sites, a template such as %excerpt% gives every post a relevant default, and hand-written descriptions go on the pages that earn the most impressions. Our post on meta descriptions that earn clicks has worked examples.

Improve the text Google might quote

Since Google often quotes the page, shape what it finds:

• Open the page with a direct, self-contained summary. The first paragraph is a frequent snippet source.
• Start sections with a sentence that answers the heading above it.
• Keep navigation labels, cookie text and boilerplate out of the main content area, so they are not picked up.
• Mark text that must never appear in a snippet with the data-nosnippet attribute on a span, div or section.

Controls that limit snippets

These restrict what Google may show. They cannot make Google use your description.

• max-snippet:[number] caps the snippet's length in characters. max-snippet:-1 means no limit; max-snippet:0 is equivalent to nosnippet.
• nosnippet removes the text snippet entirely.
• data-nosnippet excludes a marked section of the page.

Limiting snippets also limits how your content can appear in other search features, so use these sparingly. Hydrogen SEO sets snippet and preview directives site-wide on the Robots screen and per post in the SEO Settings sheet; the defaults and each option are explained under snippet and preview controls.

Judge by clicks, not by which text shows

Open Search Console's Performance report, filter to the page, and look at CTR for its top queries against their average position. A page whose description is "ignored" but whose CTR is in line with similar positions has no problem. A page with a weak CTR at a good position is a candidate for a better title first, then a better description and opening paragraph. Change one thing, note the date, and compare the following four weeks with the previous four.

The free SEO audit reports whether a page has a meta description and whether its length is in range. It cannot tell you which snippet Google shows; only a search for the query can.