A meta description is a short summary of a page, written in an HTML tag in the page’s head, that search engines can show as the grey text under the title in results. It does not appear on the page itself and is not a ranking factor, but it shapes whether people choose your result.
How a meta description works
The tag sits in the head of the HTML and looks like <meta name="description" content="...">. Most content management systems and SEO plugins give you a field for it, so you rarely need to touch code.
When Google builds a result for a search, it chooses a snippet. It often uses your meta description, but it rewrites or replaces it frequently, pulling text from the page when that matches the search better. A page about boiler servicing might show your description for “boiler service Leeds” and a paragraph about prices for “how much is a boiler service”. The more specific and accurate your description, the more often it survives.
There is no fixed character limit. Google truncates by pixel width, which on desktop usually works out at around 150 to 160 characters, and shows less on some mobile layouts. Anything after the cut-off is replaced with an ellipsis.
Why it matters
Google confirmed years ago that the meta description is not used for ranking. Its value is in the click-through rate: two results in similar positions can draw very different numbers of visitors depending on which one makes the clearer offer.
For a UK business, a good description answers the question running through a searcher’s head: is this for me? A Manchester accountant can mention the type of client they serve, a fixed-fee option or a free first call. That specificity helps the right people click and the wrong ones skip, which is better than a vague promise that attracts everyone.
Common mistakes
- Leaving it blank or duplicated. Many sites use the same description on every page, or let the theme fill it with the opening of the content. Google then picks something, which may be a cookie notice or navigation text.
- Repeating the title. The title tag already sits above the description. Use the second line to add something new.
- Stuffing keywords. Google bolds words that match the search, but a list of keywords reads as spam and gets rewritten.
- Promising what the page does not deliver. A description that says “prices listed” on a page with no prices sends people straight back to the results.
- Writing for desktop only. Front-load the useful part so the message still works if it is cut short on a phone.
How to act on it
Write a unique description for every page you want people to find, starting with the most important ones: the homepage, main service or category pages, and your best-performing articles. In one or two sentences, say what the page offers, who it is for and why someone should choose it, in plain British English. Aim for roughly 120 to 160 characters.
Check your work in a title tag and meta description checker to see how it might look before it goes live. Then use Search Console to find pages with plenty of impressions but a low click-through rate and rewrite those descriptions first. Reviewing titles and descriptions across a site is a routine part of my on-page SEO work. If you need to limit or switch off the snippet for a page, the meta robots tag has controls such as max-snippet and nosnippet.