Missing meta description
Google has no description for you, so it scrapes whatever text it finds.
How to see it yourself, in a minute
- Search Google for your business name and read the two lines under the blue link.
- If it is a fragment of your cookie notice, a menu or a random sentence, the page has no description.
Or paste your address into the free audit, which checks this and seventeen other faults in ten seconds.
Why it matters
The description is the two lines under the blue link. When it is missing, Google shows a random fragment of the page, often a cookie notice or a menu, and the people who would have clicked go to the listing below yours.
The description is your pitch in the results. When it is missing, Google shows a random fragment, and the listing below yours, with a clear description, gets the click. It does not change where you rank; it changes whether anyone clicks.
How we fix it
We write a description for every page that answers the searcher's question and gives them a reason to click.
- Write a description for every page that answers the searcher's question and gives a reason to click, under 155 characters.
- Vary them by page; duplicated descriptions are ignored.
- Review the click-through rate in Search Console after a month.
How long: Two hours for a typical site.
This is one of the eighteen on the fix one thing list. How a fix is quoted, staged and signed off is on how it works; the site we run ourselves, with none of these faults, is on the proof page.
Who it costs most
On a site that carries stock, this fault is paid for on every item page, not just the homepage. It is one of the first things we check for:
- Websites for tyre and parts suppliers · Tyres and parts on your own site
- Websites for furniture showrooms · Pieces on your own site
- Websites for kitchen and bathroom showrooms · Displays and ranges on your own site
Questions people ask about this
- Do descriptions affect ranking?
- Not directly. They affect clicks, and clicks are what you wanted from ranking.
People usually find this page by searching
- “meta description missing”
- “how to write meta description”
- “google search snippet wrong”
Has your site got it?
Paste your address. This and seventeen other faults, checked in seconds.
Free, no call. The first findings come up in a few seconds and the full result in about half a minute. We load your site in a real mobile browser the way Google measures it, read your inner pages, your DNS, certificate, email records and sitemap, follow your stock list to the pages for the things you actually sell, and show you the three worst things on screen.
Or fix the lot at once
If the audit finds five or more, a rebuild is usually cheaper than five fixes. Prices are on the page.