WEB1023 - The <meta name="description"> tag contents are too long

  • Article

A <meta name="description"> tag should contain no more than 150 characters.

Explanation

A <meta name="description"> tag that exceeds 150 characters is likely to flag the page for review or be marked as using deceptive practices. Each page should have a single, unique description that accurately reflects the contents of the page in 150 characters or fewer.

Details

Most search engines display the content of the <meta name="description"> tag in search results; the description is often the most visible and most valuable opportunity to persuade potential customers to click through to your page.

The <meta name="description"> tag is one of the most important tags that the site developer controls that can influence the relevance and ranking of a site in search-engine results. The <meta name="description"> tag helps differentiate a site in search-engine results. A precise, descriptive snippet of descriptive text can improve the click-through volume to the site.

Use a descriptive and representative keyword phrase that people might search for in the <meta name="description"> tag, and that accurately describes the information provided on the page.

For information about customizing the parameters for rules in the SEO Checker, see Customizing SEO rules Ff723911.xtlink_newWindow(en-us,Expression.40).png.

Example

The following is an example of correctly formatted <meta name="description"> and <meta name="keywords"> tags.

<head>
    <title>Contact Proseware, Inc.</title>
    <meta name="description" content="Contact information for Proseware, Inc., including addresses, phone numbers, and email"/>
    <meta name="keywords" content="Proseware,Proseware applications,Proseware utilities,Proseware tools,Proseware server tools"/>
</head>

See also

Concepts

Description guidelines for SEO
SEO concepts
Search Engine Optimization

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