A meta description is the short summary that shows up under your page's title in Google's search results. It doesn't affect your ranking directly, but it's the deciding factor in whether someone clicks your result or the one above it — which makes getting the length and the pitch right worth the extra five minutes.

The actual limit

Google doesn't enforce a strict character count — it truncates based on pixel width, which varies slightly by device and font. As a practical target, aim for roughly 150-160 characters on desktop, and know that mobile search results often show slightly less before cutting off with an ellipsis. Writing to the low end of that range (140-155 characters) gives you a safety margin so your sentence doesn't get chopped mid-word.

Why going over doesn't just get "cut off" — it gets rewritten

If your meta description is too long, or if Google decides it doesn't match the searcher's query well, Google will often replace it entirely with a snippet pulled from your page content instead of showing what you wrote. That means a description you carefully crafted may never be seen — matching both the length limit and the actual search intent of the page increases the odds Google uses your version.

What makes people actually click

• Lead with the value, not the setup. Put the most compelling detail in the first 100 characters — that's what's guaranteed to show even in the tightest truncation scenarios.
• Match the search intent. If someone is searching "how to fix a leaky faucet," a description confirming you'll show exactly that (not a general plumbing overview) earns more clicks.
• Include a clear next step where it fits. "Learn the 3-step process" or "Compare all five options" gives the reader a reason to click through rather than scan the snippet and move on.
• Avoid duplicate descriptions across pages. Each page should have its own — a generic description reused site-wide gives Google more reason to substitute its own snippet instead.

Quick check before you publish

Read only the first 100 characters out loud — if that alone doesn't make sense or doesn't convey the value of the page, move your strongest point earlier in the sentence. Then confirm the full description sits under about 155 characters, and that it's unique to this specific page rather than reused boilerplate.