Avoid meta description truncation
Description
Rule ID: meta-description-truncation
This rule determines if the <meta name="description" content="Example description">
is not truncated with three dots at the end (...
or [...]
).
How does truncating meta description impact SEO?
Truncating meta descriptions with three dots can impact SEO in a few ways:
- Click-through rate (CTR): A well-written and compelling meta description can increase the CTR of your organic search results, leading to more traffic and engagement on your website. When a meta description is truncated with three dots, it can have an impact on the reading and attractiveness of the snippet, potentially affecting the CTR.
- Visibility and relevance: Meta descriptions play an important role in improving the visibility and click-through potential of your website content in search engines. When a meta description is truncated, it may result in the loss of valuable information that could make the snippet more relevant and appealing to users.
- Search engine rewriting: Google, Bing, and other search engines sometimes choose to rewrite meta descriptions and display different text within the search engine results page (SERP) snippet. This rewriting can occur when search engine believes that the existing meta description does not adequately answer a user’s query or when it finds a more accurate or compelling response from the same page. In such cases, the truncation of the meta description may not have a direct impact on SEO, as search engine may choose to display a different snippet altogether.
Overall, truncating meta descriptions with three dots may have an effect on SEO by affecting CTR, visibility, and relevancy. It’s best to produce short but engaging meta descriptions that accurately represent the page’s content and motivate users to visit your website.
How to fix it
- Make sure the
<meta name="description" content="Example description">
description is not truncated with three dots at the end –...
or[...]
. - See Google Search Central – Control your snippets in search results.
Standard
SiteLint, SEO, Best Practice