How to Add a Meta Description on WordPress
The meta description is the short summary that can appear under your title in search results. It does not directly change rankings, but it influences whether someone clicks your result, and Google sometimes rewrites it to match the search.
The fix on WordPress
If using Yoast or RankMath, scroll to the SEO box below the editor and fill in the meta description field.
Builder menus change over time. If a label looks different, look for the closest option and check WordPress's help centre.
Why this matters
This is the short text that appears below your title in Google. It does not directly affect rankings, but it is often the deciding factor in whether someone clicks your result over a competitor's.
How to check it worked
- View the page source (Ctrl+U, or Cmd+Option+U on a Mac) and search for name="description".
- Search Google for your page title. If the snippet looks random or cut off, the description is probably missing or poor.
Common questions
How long should a meta description be?
Up to roughly 155 characters. Longer ones are often cut off in results.
Should every page have its own description?
Yes. Copying the same description across many WordPress pages makes results harder to tell apart and wastes the chance to describe each page.
Same fix on other builders
More fixes for WordPress