Meta description
Example: A neighborhood wine bar rewrites its meta description to "Natural wines and small plates in Logan Circle, open till midnight Thursday through Saturday," fitting roughly 150 characters so Google shows the hours and neighborhood instead of cutting them off.
The short paragraph of text Google shows underneath the blue headline in a search result. Set in the HTML with <meta name="description" content="…">. Roughly 150–160 characters; any more gets cut off.
Why it matters
Meta descriptions don't directly affect ranking, but they heavily affect whether someone clicks. A sharp, specific description — with hours, neighborhood, and one differentiator — outperforms a generic one by double-digit percentages.
Frequently asked
What is meta description?
Meta description is the short paragraph of text Google shows underneath the blue headline in a search result. Set in the HTML with <meta name="description" content="…">. Roughly 150–160 characters; any more gets cut off.
Why does meta description matter for a restaurant?
Meta descriptions don't directly affect ranking, but they heavily affect whether someone clicks. A sharp, specific description — with hours, neighborhood, and one differentiator — outperforms a generic one by double-digit percentages.
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