A meta description is an HTML tag that summarizes a webpages content. It is a brief summary of a webpage that may be used by search engines like Google to generate a snippet, the descriptive text that appears below the page title in search engine results. The purpose of a meta description is to provide a concise summary of the page's content and encourage users to click through to the page.
Some key points about meta descriptions include:
- Length: Meta descriptions should be around 155 characters long.
- Content: They should accurately reflect the content of the page and provide a clear idea of what the page is about.
- SEO: While meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor, they are important for SEO because they can influence click-through rates from search engine results pages.
- Writing: Meta descriptions should be well-written and compelling, using language that encourages users to click through to the page.
Most content management systems and SEO plugins allow you to add and edit HTML meta descriptions by typing in a designated field. It's important to note that Google may choose to display a different snippet of text from the page's content if it deems it more relevant to the user's search query.
