Meta Description

In plain language

The short summary under your page's title in Google results, written to get people to click.

The metaphor

Like the blurb on the back of a book: it doesn't change the story, but it decides who picks it up.

Going deeper

How it works

One or two sentences, about 150 to 160 characters, set in each page's code.
Google shows it under the page title, though it sometimes writes its own instead.
It does not directly change ranking. It changes how many people click.
Every page should have its own.

What can go wrong (example scenario)

Every page on a law firm's site shared the description "Welcome to our website." Searchers could not tell the family law page from the real estate page, and clicked a competitor instead.

How WILDCARD handles it

Managed Search writes and updates meta descriptions as part of monthly site optimisation.

In practice

A plumber's emergency page says "24-hour emergency plumbing. Call now for a plumber at your door within the hour."
A bakery's catering page names its delivery area and lead time.
A clinic's booking page says new patients are welcome.

A question owners ask

Why does Google show different text than mine?

Google picks the text it thinks best matches the search. A clear, specific description gets used more often.

Where WILDCARD handles this

Managed
Search

SEO, managed monthly
Rankings tracked and reported
Site and content optimised

Start with Managed Search

Related terms

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