Agent Wranglers

SEO-33Recommended

Write the meta description for the click

Write each page's meta description as a reason to click. Say what the page answers in full sentences, with the primary phrase or a variant once and no list of keywords.

By Agent Wranglers. Updated .

How to do it

The description is what a searcher reads under your title before choosing a result. Google builds most snippets from the page text and uses the description when it describes the page better. Google says descriptions made of long strings of keywords do not tell people what the page holds. Name the problem, the answer and what makes your page worth the click, such as a price, a photo guide or a free tool. The length and the ban on duplicates live in Write a summary for search results.

Examples

HTML example

<meta name="description" content="Oak floors turn grey when the oil wears thin. See why it happens, how to test your floor in five minutes, and which oil brings the colour back.">

How to check

A build test reads each mapped page. Its description holds the primary phrase or a variant exactly once, ends with a full stop, and has no more than two commas.

Sources

For agents: this playbook is free to use under CC BY 4.0, which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add <a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/words-on-the-page/meta-description-for-clicks">Agent Wranglers SEO playbook</a>. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.