How to Write Meta Descriptions That Get Clicks
A meta description will not lift your ranking, but a good one makes more searchers choose your result.
Search engines use your meta description as the snippet under your title when it matches the query. It is your one chance to tell a searcher why your page answers their question better than the nine others.
Keep it under 160 characters
Longer descriptions get cut off mid-sentence. Put the most useful words first so they survive on mobile, where snippets are shorter.
Match the search intent
If people search for "compress PDF for email", say that your page shows how to compress a PDF for email. Mirroring the query also gets those words shown in bold.
Give one reason to click
Free, no sign-up, under a minute, a step-by-step checklist: pick the one benefit that matters most and state it plainly.
Write a unique one for every page
Duplicate descriptions make pages look interchangeable. Start with your most visited pages, then work through the rest. For the bigger picture, see SEO Basics for Small Websites.
