A meta description is the short summary Google can show under your title in search results. It has no direct ranking effect, but a clear one improves click-through rate. Write one per page, 110 to 160 characters, that reads like a reason to click.
Why it matters
Google does not always use the meta description you write. It sometimes pulls a different snippet from the page if it judges that more relevant to the search query. Writing a good one still improves the odds Google uses it, and gives you a fallback searchers see.
A missing description usually means Google shows a scraped fragment of the page instead, which reads awkwardly and undersells the page.
Like titles, a description reused across pages weakens the signal that each page is distinct.
How AuditCrow checks this
AuditCrow reads the `<meta name="description">` tag on each sampled page and flags it when it is missing, empty, outside the 110 to 160 character range that tends to display fully in search results, or duplicated across more than one URL.
How to fix it
- 1Add a `<meta name="description" content="...">` tag inside the page's `<head>` if one is missing.
- 2Write one to two sentences summarising the page and the reason to click through, aimed at 110 to 160 characters.
- 3Avoid keyword stuffing. Google's algorithms read this as filler, and it reads badly to a person too.
- 4In WordPress, an SEO plugin adds a description field per page; without one, there is usually no description at all, not a bad one, which is the more common finding.
- 5Give Google a few weeks to pick up a new description in live search results. A single re-scan straight after publishing will not show the change in Google itself, only that the tag is now present.
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