Glossary · Technical
Meta description.
A short summary of the page supplied in its head. It is not a ranking factor, but it is often what appears under the headline in search results, so it decides whether the result gets clicked.
Why it matters.
Left empty, Google writes its own from whatever text it finds, which is sometimes worse than what you would have written and always outside your control. 7,184 of the 34,180 sites we opened have none. Around 150 characters, written as a reason to click rather than a summary, is the useful shape.
How to check it yourself.
Do the same search and read the grey text under each headline. Anything that reads like a fragment of a sentence is Google writing it for you because you left the field empty.
Questions
Before you ask.
How do I check meta description on my own site?
Do the same search and read the grey text under each headline. Anything that reads like a fragment of a sentence is Google writing it for you because you left the field empty.
Check yours
The same test,
on your address.
We do not guess and we do not send a report by email. Type the address, wait ten seconds, read what comes back. If your site is fine it will say so.
Want the same for
your business?
Tell us what you do and where you work. We will look at what you have now and say plainly whether it is worth rebuilding — including when it is not.