What is a metadescription?

A metadescription is a short text snippet in the HTML of a page that summarises what the page is about. Search engines often show this metadescription under the blue title in the search results and users use it to decide whether to click.

Technically, a metadescription is set with the <meta name="description" content="..."> tag inside the <head> of your page. It does not directly influence rankings like links or content do, but a strong metadescription can boost click through rate, which supports your overall SEO performance. For growth driven teams in B2B and e commerce, it is a low effort lever with real impact.

How a metadescription works in search results

When someone searches on Google, the search engine chooses a text snippet to show for each result. If your metadescription clearly matches the query and page content, Google often uses it. If not, it can ignore your metadescription and pull text from the page instead. This is why writing a focused metadescription for every important landing page is worth the time.

A good metadescription is usually between 120 and 155 characters. That is long enough to explain your value, but short enough to avoid being truncated on most devices. It should connect the metatitle, the content of the page, and the search intent into one clear promise.

What makes a strong metadescription?

For performance marketing, each metadescription should work like a mini ad. It has to convince the right visitor that your result is the best next click. That means using your main keyword, highlighting your unique value, and making the next step obvious. It also has to stay honest and match the content on the page, or users will bounce quickly.

  • Describe the core benefit or outcome, not just the topic of the page.
  • Include the primary keyword once so users recognise high relevance.
  • Write in active voice with a clear call to action such as "Compare plans" or "Download the checklist".
  • Keep your metadescription unique for each important page to avoid duplicate snippets.
  • Align it with your metatitle so they tell one consistent story.
  • Review performance in your SEO dashboards and test new versions for key pages.

Together, these elements turn each metadescription into a controlled message that supports both search visibility and conversion. You are not just filling a tag, you are shaping how your brand appears on crowded results pages.

How to manage metadescriptions at scale

For e commerce and B2B sites with many URLs, manually writing every metadescription is not always realistic. You can use templates that pull in dynamic fields like product name, category and USP, then refine top traffic pages by hand. Tools such as the 6th Man SEO extension make it easy to review and optimise your metadescription directly in the browser.

To decide which metadescription needs work first, track impressions, position and click through rate in structured SEO dashboards. Focus on pages with high impressions and low CTR, test new copy, and measure the lift. Over time, a disciplined approach to every metadescription compounds into stronger organic traffic and more qualified leads.