The meta description is the short block of text Google shows under your title in the search results. It doesn't determine your ranking, but it does determine whether people pick your result over everyone else's — think of it as the free ad copy that comes with every search.
What a good description does
A strong description answers "is this relevant to me?" at a glance. It sums up the core of the page, names a concrete benefit and prompts a next step. Skip your own description and Google will pull a snippet of text from the page itself — often less persuasive, and sometimes even a random line from the navigation.
Length and structure
- Keep it around 150–155 characters; anything longer gets cut off with an ellipsis.
- Start with the most important point — the first words carry the most weight.
- Name a concrete benefit or distinguishing feature, not vague marketing language.
- Close with an invitation: "Read more", "Browse the range", "Request a quote".
- Work in your main keyword naturally — Google bolds it when it matches the search query, which draws extra attention.
Unique per page
Write a unique description for every page. Reusing the same text across dozens of pages is a missed opportunity: Google may then pick its own text to display, and that's rarely the most persuasive option. For dynamic pages built automatically from records, give every record its own summary field for exactly this reason.
Paired with a strong title
A compelling SEO title and a persuasive description reinforce each other: the title grabs attention, the description seals the click. Where possible, add an attractive OG image too, so shared links look just as polished on social media. How to set this per page in Obelisk is covered under SEO.
A concrete example
A description like "We are a company that offers services" won't prompt anyone to click — it's vague and undifferentiated. "Get your website built in 2 weeks by a dedicated team, hosting and support included. Request a free quote" does the job: concrete, with a timeframe and a clear next step. The same applies to blog articles — a good description summarises the key takeaways instead of simply writing "In this article we discuss...", which wastes a chance to show value before the click even happens.
Common mistakes
Avoid simply repeating the title, listing bare keywords instead of a flowing sentence, and descriptions so generic you can't tell which page they belong to. Regularly check how your result appears in Google and adjust the text if the click-through rate disappoints.