A meta description is a <meta name="description"> tag in a page's head that gives a short summary of its content. Search engines may display it as the snippet below the title, though they sometimes write their own from the page text.
Why it matters
The description is not a direct ranking factor, but it influences whether people click. A clear, accurate summary that matches the searcher's need can improve click-through rate.
Write it for a person scanning a results page: lead with the benefit, include the main topic naturally and add a reason to click, such as a free tool or a specific answer.
Example
<meta name="description"
content="Learn what TTL means in DNS, how caching works and how to lower it before a migration.">A common guideline is to keep it roughly between 120 and 160 characters so it is less likely to be truncated, though display length varies by device.
Common mistakes
- Leaving it blank or duplicating one description across every page.
- Stuffing keywords instead of writing a readable sentence.
- Promising something the page does not deliver.
Related
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