A meta description is a page summary specified in the HTML <meta name="description"> tag. It appears below the title in search engine results pages (SERPs) and significantly influences click-through rates.

Google does not officially specify a character limit for meta descriptions, but typically displays about 155-160 characters in English and around 120 characters in Japanese before truncating with an ellipsis (...). SEO meta description guides teach effective writing techniques.

Meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor, but compelling descriptions improve click-through rates (CTR), indirectly benefiting SEO. Accurately summarizing page content and addressing user search intent makes descriptions most effective.

When no meta description is set, Google automatically generates a snippet from the page content. Setting unique meta descriptions for each page ensures your intended summary is displayed. Practical SEO guides cover meta tag optimization techniques.