Think of a meta description as a brief summary of a book, but in this case, it's the summary of a webpage. It's typically about 155 characters long (including spaces), which isn't much. It's basically the length of a Tweet. So, you need to make each character count!
When you search for something on Google, you usually see a list of results, right? Each result has a title (which we talked about before), a URL (the webpage address), and then a little bit of text underneath. That small snippet of text is the meta description.
Its primary purpose is to provide a concise and appealing snapshot of what's on the page to encourage people to click on your site in the search results. It's your chance to advertise content to searchers and let them know what they can expect from your page before they click on it.
Here's an example. Say you've written a blog post about the benefits of your bakery's gluten-free cookies. A good meta description could be something like, "Discover why our delicious gluten-free cookies at Marie's Bakery are a hit with customers. Perfect for those with dietary restrictions or anyone who loves great cookies."
Keep in mind, though, while meta descriptions are essential for attracting user clicks, they don't directly impact your search ranking. Google announced this back in 2009. However, they indirectly influence SEO because a well-written meta description can increase the click-through rate, which is a ranking factor.
