If you’re building a website or optimizing your content for search engines, you’ve probably come across the term meta description. It’s a short snippet of text that appears under your page title in search engine results. But how important is it really? Can you just skip it and let Google figure it out? You may be wondering, if meta descriptions are so important, why doesn’t WordPress include that feature out-of-the-box?! Let’s break it down.
What Is a Meta Description?
A meta description is an HTML attribute that provides a brief summary of a webpage’s content. It typically looks like this in the code:
<meta name="description" content="Learn how meta descriptions affect SEO and whether you need to write one for every page.">
And in search engine results, it appears beneath the page title and URL, helping users decide whether to click.
Does It Affect Rankings?
Here’s the short answer: not directly.
Google has stated that meta descriptions are not a ranking factor. That means stuffing your meta description with keywords won’t boost your page’s rank. But that doesn’t mean they’re pointless.
Why Meta Descriptions Still Matter
While meta descriptions don’t affect rankings directly, they can influence click-through rates (CTR) – and that can indirectly affect your rankings. Here’s how:
- First impressions count: Your meta description is like a mini advertisement. A well-written one can grab attention and encourage people to click.
- Relevance encourages action: When users see a description that matches what they’re looking for, they’re more likely to visit your site.
- Control your messaging: If you don’t write a meta description, Google will automatically pull a snippet of text from your page – and it may not be what you want users to see.
What Happens If You Leave It Blank?
If you skip the meta description, search engines will auto-generate one based on the content of the page – usually around the keywords in the search query. This isn’t always bad, but:
- It may be incomplete or confusing.
- It might not match your intended marketing message.
- It could highlight the wrong part of your page, especially if your content isn’t tightly focused.
So while it’s not the end of the world to leave it blank, you’re giving up control.
When It’s Okay to Skip It
There are a few situations where you might skip writing a meta description:
- Large sites with thousands of pages, like forums or product listings. In these cases, it’s hard to manually write descriptions for every page. If you’re using UltimateWB, the software will automatically dynamically generate your meta descriptions for these pages.
- Low-priority or duplicate content pages where SEO isn’t a focus. Actually, you really shouldn’t have duplicate content!
- When you’re relying on dynamic snippets (like on search result pages of your site) and you want Google to tailor them automatically.
Still, for key landing pages, blog posts, homepage, and high-traffic content, writing your own is strongly recommended.
Best Practices for Meta Descriptions
If you do write them – and you should for important pages – here are a few tips:
- Keep it under 155–160 characters.
- Use active voice and a call to action.
- Match the page content and user intent.
- Avoid duplicate meta descriptions across pages.
- Include target keywords naturally (so they appear bolded in results).
Read: Pro Tip: Why Your Blog Title Shouldn’t Be Your Meta Description
Is 160 characters recommended for webpage meta descriptions?
Final Verdict
Can you leave meta descriptions blank? Yes. Should you? Not if you care about clicks.
Meta descriptions may not directly improve your Google rankings, but they play a key role in how users interact with your listing. A compelling, relevant description can mean the difference between a scroll-past and a click. In the world of SEO, that’s often what really counts.
Now back to the question on why WordPress doesn’t let you add meta descriptions to your pages out-of-the box. It is not because it’s not a good idea, or not beneficial. You can get/buy a third-party plugin for it. But, if you’re using UltimateWB, with the integrated WordPress blog option, we’ve got you covered, no third-party plugins required. We’ve added the feature: Enhancing SEO: Post Meta Descriptions in Your UltimateWB integrated WordPress Blog – No Plugins Necessary!
With UltimateWB, managing your SEO metadata is straightforward, so you can focus on creating great content that gets noticed.
Related: 10 Expert Tips for Writing SEO-Friendly Blog Content
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