Free Meta Description Checker

What is a meta description?

A meta description is a short summary of a page in a <meta name="description"> tag. Google often uses it as the snippet under the title in search results when it describes the page better than text on the page does. It is not a ranking factor, but a clear, specific description can earn more clicks.

How to use the Meta Description Checker

Enter the URL of the page.
The tool reads the meta description from the page’s HTML and counts its characters.
Rewrite it if it is missing, generic or far outside the suggested length.

How to read the results

Passed: A meta description exists and is 70–160 characters long.
Needs attention: The description is shorter than 70 or longer than 160 characters, so it may be too thin or be cut off.
Failed: There is no meta description, or it is empty.

How do I write a meta description?

Summarise what someone gets from the page, in a sentence or two, with the specifics that make it different: price, location, what the tool checks, who it is for. Write a unique one for each important page. A list of keywords is not a description.

HTML

<meta name="description" content="Free robots.txt checker: see if Googlebot can crawl your page, which rule blocks it, and how to fix it.">

Next.js (App Router)

export const metadata = {
  description: 'Free robots.txt checker: see if Googlebot can crawl your page, which rule blocks it, and how to fix it.',
};

Frequently asked questions

Why does Google ignore my meta description?

Google picks the snippet for each search. If another passage on the page answers the searcher’s query better, it shows that instead. Specific, accurate descriptions are used more often.

Does the meta description affect rankings?

No. Google has said it does not use meta descriptions for ranking. They affect how the result looks, and so whether people click.

Is there a maximum length?

There is no limit on the tag. Google trims snippets to fit the device, so keep the key information near the start.

Sources

Control your snippets in search results (Google Search Central)

What this tool checks

Meta description present
Checks for a non-empty <meta name="description">.
Why it matters: Search engines may use the meta description as the snippet under the result link. It is not a direct ranking factor but affects click-through.
If it fails: Add a concise, unique meta description that summarises the page.
Source: developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/snippet
Meta description length
Checks the meta description is roughly 70–160 characters.
Why it matters: Descriptions much longer than ~160 characters are truncated in search snippets; very short ones waste the opportunity to describe the page.
If it fails: Keep the meta description around 70–160 characters.
Source: developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/snippet