Meta Description Value
Meta descriptions are one of the first things searchers see in the SERP (search engine results page) and could make or break a click to your blog post. Meta descriptions are not a ranking factor, but a well-crafted meta description can increase your click-through rate (CTR) and drive more qualified visitors to your site. Consider your meta description as your sales ad for why someone should click on your blog post in Google.
Meta Description vs Excerpt
A meta description is an HTML tag that gives a summary of the content on the page. Search Engines like Google may show the meta description in the SERP.
The meta description in this article by Points with a Crew is not found on the page or in the article, but you can see it in the actual code, which is different from an excerpt because an excerpt is a summary of the article on the page instead of the meta tag.
What Are the Latest Change in Meta Descriptions?
As of 2023, meta descriptions are recommended to be 150-300 characters long.
Google may show what you wrote for your meta description or Google may create its meta description based on the words on the page. If Google sees a paragraph in your post that answers the question of the searcher better than the meta description, then Google may show that excerpt instead of your well-written meta description. Also, if your current meta description is too short or non-existent, Google may start pulling random words off of your page, or Google may rewrite your meta description altogether based on what’s on the page.
You could have a perfect, well-written meta description that is the correct length and you may see Google still pulling in a meta description based on the copy, but more than 50% of the time, MOZ saw Google using what was entered in the meta tag.
View A Meta Description for Any Page
There are many different tools and ways to see what the meta description of a page is (or if there is one), but an easy to see the meta description on any page is right-clicking on the page and clicking view page source and then searching for the description. Alternatively, you can use shortcuts to view the page source:
Operating System | Shortcut |
Mac | Command+U |
PC | Ctrl+U |
Try it Out
Go to the Blog Article: 6 Reasons Google Flights is the Best Flight Search Engine
Now right-click on the page and click on View Source (or try one of the shortcuts above:
What you will see is a lot of code… but stay calm, I’ll teach you a great trick.
When looking at the source code type the shortcut Ctrl + F (or Command + F on Mac) and type in ‘description’ in the search box. You will then see the description highlighted below and you can then read the meta description that has been written for this page. See, that wasn’t so hard.
If you want to view every meta description for every page on your site you can run your site through a crawler like Screaming Frog which is free if you have 500 URLs or less.
Use Yoast to Enter the Meta Description
If you have Yoast installed on your WordPress blog, you will see a widget for Yoast SEO in the post editor view. You may see something that says ‘Snippet Preview’. Click on the edit snippet, and there you can fill out your meta description (as well as your title tag and focus keyword). Make sure to click ‘update’ after updating any information.
Meta Description Best Practices
Meta Descriptions Should Be an Optimal Length: 150-300 characters are now your new character limit for meta descriptions and currently the minimum is debatable, but I would strive for 150 characters to be optimum.
Use a Target Keyword (and synonyms): Add your target keyword into your meta description, because Google may bold that word or phrase if it is in the searcher’s query and it is in your meta description, giving you a better chance of gaining that click! By keyword, I don’t mean a generic word like ‘travel’, but a keyword may be ‘things to know when traveling to Canada' which has 590 monthly searches in the United States. Now Google is getting smarter and you can word the ‘keyword’ slightly differently to make it flow and use synonyms and related words in your meta description. (Same rule of thumb for your title tags and copy).
Make Each Meta Description Unique: You don’t know how many times I have seen websites use the same meta description on every page. This is NOT a best practice and you want each meta description to showcase what that page is about and each page should have a unique meta description.
Use Complete Sentences: Sometimes people view a meta description to list keywords they want to rank for. This is terrible and every time someone does this a unicorn dies. I don’t like it, Google doesn’t like it, and Google will not show that meta description. Write your meta descriptions for humans to read and enjoy because this is your commercial for your amazing blog that the searcher must click on and use the active voice when writing your meta descriptions.
Be Engaging and Include a Call to Action: You are all all-star bloggers and you know how to write very well. Use that all-star talent for writing compelling and engaging meta descriptions that start with a call to action like learn how, find out, and discover more.