Google’s John Mueller answers a question about whether meta descriptions can be used to influence search rankings.
This is a good question because Google recommends using unique meta descriptions on web pages. So there is some kind of impact, but is that impact related to ranking? John Mueller answered this question.
meta element
Meta tags are officially called meta elementThe .meta element is used to describe (represent) document-level information about a web page.
To describe different properties of a web page, a meta element (like all HTML elements) has attributes that extend the meta element so that it can provide a specific type of information to a web browser or web crawler (like Googlebot).
E.g:
- Metabot tags communicate with crawlers.
- The meta refresh tag communicates with the browser.
There are many other meta tags that communicate directly with search engines and browsers:
- metaname=”viewport”
- meta http-equiv=”refresh”
- metaname=”Google Site Verification”
- metaname=”googlebot” content=”notranslate”
Meta-element data is information that website visitors cannot see directly (though it can be seen indirectly through search results).
meta description
W3C is the standards-setting body responsible for defining HTML (among other things)
official W3C specification for meta descriptions Tags indicate that meta descriptions are designed for search engines.
“The value must be a free-form string describing the page. The value must be suitable for use in a page directory, such as in a search engine.
There must be no more than one meta element per document whose name attribute is set to value description. “
Google’s use of meta descriptions
Google’s Fragment Documentation Description Meta Description Used to generate search result snippets.
If used correctly, the meta description displayed in the search results will communicate to potential website visitors what the page is about and give them an idea of what would happen if they clicked on the link and visited the website.
There is no limit to the length of the meta description.
However, there is a limit to how many meta descriptions a search engine will choose to display. This limit is defined by what can be displayed on the user’s browser device.
Does Google use meta descriptions for ranking?
The person asking this question specifically asked about adding location name information to the meta description, and whether it would help with rankings.
Google’s John Mueller’s answer was broader than just adding the location name, and his answer was about whether anything in the meta description would affect rankings.
Here is the question being asked:
“Does adding a location name to the meta description matter for Google rankings if the content quality remains the same?”
John Mueller replied:
“So meta descriptions are mostly used as snippets in search results pages.
It’s not something we use to rank for.
But obviously, with a good snippet on the search results page, people will be more interested in actually visiting your page when they see your page ranking in the search results. “
Meta descriptions and SEO
There’s a lot to know about HTML meta elements, and this question is a good example of the value of understanding HTML and how they are used by browsers and search engines.
Knowing background information about meta elements and meta description tags is especially helpful to better understand how all the pieces fit together for SEO.
Citation
Are meta descriptions important for rankings?
Watch John Mueller answer questions at 26:47 in the video:
