Meta description
The summary under the link. Written for a person who is choosing which result to open.
What does Meta description mean?
A short summary of one page, often shown under the title in search results. It does not change your rank by itself. It helps a person decide whether to click.
Also called: description tag
A suggestion, not a command
You can supply a meta description. Google can ignore it and pull a different sentence from the page. That is normal. The field is still worth writing because, when it is used, it is the only pitch you get in that small space.
It is not the place for a pile of keywords. A readable sentence about who the page helps beats a comma-separated list. The title tag names the page. The description says why this result might be the right one.
What to put in two lines
The service, the area or the kind of customer, and the next step, if it fits. Mention a limit if it saves the wrong visit: estimates after a look, by appointment, no emergency desk. Do not invent a discount, a rating, or a response time you do not keep.
Legal, medical, dental, and financial pages should not use the description to promise an outcome. Describe the matter or the visit. A reader who needs advice still needs a professional, not a search snippet.
Keeping them distinct
Write a different description for each important page. Copying one company slogan onto every URL wastes the field. Empty descriptions are not fatal. Google will quote the page. Empty is better than misleading.
On Artol pages we write these with the rest of the copy, including on this glossary. You do not need a plugin tutorial. If a sentence becomes untrue, tell us and it joins the small updates included with hosting.
An example
A law office's practice pages all shared the description We are committed to excellence. Replacing that, on the estate-planning page only, with a sentence about who the page is for and that it is not legal advice, made the result honest. It did not claim a case result.
Questions we get asked
Does a clever description improve rankings?
Treat it as a click decision, not a rank lever. A clear description can earn the click from someone already looking. It cannot manufacture the search.
How long should it be?
Long enough to say the specific thing, short enough that the point survives if the end is cut off. Put the important words first. We aim for a range that fits the result, and we do not pad with slogans to hit a number.
