Meta Descriptions | A Quick Guide 2024

What is a meta description ?

Meta description is an HTML attribute that provides a short description of the webpage. It contains a short summary of the page . It can appear as a snippet below the page url in google search result pages. For example in the given image , the short summary is the meta description.

In HTML code the same meta description would look like :  <meta name=”description” content=”AI in SEO means using artificial intelligence in SEO day … We at Webwave digital marketing agency believe in using AI to transform SEO.”>

Google interprets meta description as a short summary and uses it to understand the page much better. Generally google shows hardcoded meta description in the search snippet. However recent research shows that only  37% times it shows hardcoded meta descriptions. 

Why is meta description important ?

Meta description is an important factor in SEO. Although it is not directly related to ranking factor , it helps in summarizing content on the page and gist to users about the content and help improve CTR. 

Google also highlights relevant search keywords in the meta description snippet , this instills confidence in user that the page contains information about what the user is looking for.This would increase CTA.

Is Meta description compulsory ?

Setting a meta description on each page is a good practice. Google not always uses user declared meta description , it can also auto generate if it feels your meta description does not satisfy user intent . However having your meta description helps to take more control , you can customize it to make it more clickable

Best practices for meta description 

• Make sure every page has meta description

As explained before, having a meta description on each page is beneficial has it helps you take control of the content , customize it and make it more clickable.

• Search Intent

Make your meta description match search intent . You want to make sure it matches what users are looking for to increase the chances of user clicking on the result . One can use our inbuilt free ai meta description generator tool.

• Length 

Wondering about how long the meta description should be ?

We recommend 105 characters so that meta description does not get truncated. It should not exceed 160 characters 

• Uniqueness

Ensure each page has a unique meta description , so that it does not result in duplicate content issue and also it would not meet users requirement