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SEO

Meta Description

A meta description is a short HTML attribute that summarises a web page's content and is displayed in search engine results below the page title and URL.

Meta descriptions live in the page's `<head>` as `<meta name='description' content='...'>`. Search engines typically display the first 150–160 characters in desktop results and slightly less on mobile.

Google does not use the meta description as a ranking factor, but it strongly influences click-through rate from the search results. A specific, compelling description against generic competitors can dramatically outperform a higher-ranking page with weak copy.

Google also frequently rewrites meta descriptions — sometimes pulling a relevant sentence from the body of the page instead. This usually happens when the meta description does not match the query intent. Writing descriptions that work for your highest-value queries is usually the right priority.

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Related terms

  • Canonical URL

    A canonical URL is the preferred version of a page, declared via the `<link rel='canonical'>` tag, that tells search engines which URL to index when the same content is reachable at multiple URLs.

  • Schema Markup

    Schema markup is structured data added to a web page in JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa format that describes the page's content using the schema.org vocabulary, helping search engines understand and display the page.

  • Core Web Vitals

    Core Web Vitals are three Google-defined page experience metrics — Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) — that measure loading, interactivity, and visual stability.

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