Meta description over 155 characters
What it is
The meta description, the content of <meta name="description">, is longer than 155 characters. When a search engine uses it as the snippet under your title, a description this long is usually cut to fit the screen, and the text after the cut is not shown.
Why it matters
Google sets no limit on description length but truncates snippets as needed to fit the device width. The cut matters when the reason to click, a price, an offer or a call to action, sits at the end. Google may also show other text from the page for some searches, so a description is a suggestion, and a tight one is more likely to be shown whole.
How Asky checks it
Asky reads the first <meta name="description"> in the page’s raw HTML (one added by JavaScript is not seen), trims whitespace at both ends of its content and counts the characters. More than 155 characters is reported. 155 is an industry estimate of where desktop snippets are cut, not a limit Google sets. The pixel check is stricter: from 141 characters a description is estimated at over 985 pixels, so every description reported here also raises that finding.
Reported as an opportunity with low severity.
How to fix it
- Put the main point first: what the page offers and for whom.
- Cut to 140 characters or fewer, which clears this finding and the over 985 pixels one together. Keep at least 70, or it is reported as below 70 characters.
- Remove openers such as “Welcome to” or “In this article”, and repeats of your brand or of the title.
- If a CMS template or plugin fills descriptions from the first paragraph, set a length limit there or write descriptions by hand for key pages.
- To leave it as it is: if the first 140 characters make sense on their own, mark this issue and the over 985 pixels issue resolved.
Example
The description of https://example.com/pricing at 186 characters, then rewritten at 114:
<!-- Before: 186 characters -->
<meta name="description" content="Welcome to the Example Co pricing page. Here you can find out everything about our plans for marketing teams, agencies and enterprises, including features, billing options and discounts.">
<!-- After: 114 characters -->
<meta name="description" content="Compare plans for marketing teams and agencies, with monthly or yearly billing, volume discounts and a free trial.">