What is a meta description?
A meta description is a short summary of a web page, written into its HTML, that search engines may show under the page title in their results. It does not change rankings directly, but a good one earns more clicks.
Meta description length
Google trims descriptions by width rather than an exact character count, which in practice means roughly 150 to 160 characters on desktop and fewer on mobile. Put the essential information first so the cut never removes it.
Meta description vs title tag
The title tag is the clickable headline in search results and a ranking signal. The meta description is the line or two of text underneath it. Search engines often rewrite the description from the page text if they think that answers the search better, so a description that matches what the page actually says is more likely to be shown.
Meta description examples
- Product page: “Forecast demand per SKU, set safety stock from your service level and see stockouts before they happen. Plans from $49 a month.”
- Article: “A plain guide to the reorder point formula, with a worked example and the three mistakes that make it wrong.”
Meta description best practices
- Describe what the page actually delivers, in plain words.
- Include the main phrase people search for, naturally.
- Write a different description for every page.
- Do not promise what the page lacks; mismatched descriptions get rewritten.
How to write a meta description
Start from the reader’s question and answer it in one sentence, then add the detail that makes your page the one to click: a price, a number, a free tool. AI Powered Content Repurposing drafts SEO metadata from the article itself, so the description matches what the page says.
Last reviewed 2026-11-01.