What is a meta description in HubSpot?
A meta description is a short summary of a page, stored in the page’s HTML, that search engines may show under the title in results. In HubSpot, you set it in the settings of each page and blog post.
The meta description does not directly change rankings, but it often decides whether someone clicks. Search engines may show it as the snippet under your page title, so it acts as the advert for the page. A clear description that matches what the searcher wants can lift click-through even when the ranking stays the same.
Keep descriptions to roughly 150 to 160 characters, because longer ones are usually cut off. Say what the page answers or offers, in plain language, and include the main phrase someone would search for. Every page should have its own description; duplicates tell search engines and readers nothing about how pages differ.
Search engines do not always use what you write. They may pick text from the page if they think it matches the query better. That is a reason to write a good description, not to skip it: when it is missing, the engine guesses, and the guess is often a navigation label or a cookie banner.
In HubSpot, the meta description sits in each page’s or post’s settings, and the SEO recommendations tool can flag pages without one. Review new pages before publishing, and fix older pages in priority order by traffic.
Example
Orchard Lane Bakery Supply, a fictional wholesaler, had 80 product landing pages without meta descriptions. Search results showed the same shipping notice under every page. Writing a specific description for the 20 most visited pages increased their click-through from search within two months.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the meta description blank, so search engines pick random text from the page.
- Copying the same description across many pages.
- Writing descriptions far longer than results can show.
- Stuffing keywords into the description instead of explaining what the page offers.
Related checks
Frequently asked questions
How long should a meta description be?
Around 150 to 160 characters is a safe length. Longer descriptions are usually truncated in search results, so put the most important words first.
Does a meta description improve rankings?
Not directly. It affects how your result looks and whether people click it, which is why it is worth writing well.
Related terms
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