How to add a meta description in Yoast SEO (and Rank Math)

Where to write the meta description in Yoast SEO

Yoast puts the field in two places. Use whichever you see.

1. Block editor sidebar. Open the post or page. Click the Yoast SEO icon in the top-right toolbar. Open Search appearance. Type in the Meta description field.
2. Yoast meta box. Scroll below the editor to the Yoast SEO box. On the SEO tab, find Meta description.

As you type, the preview at the top updates, and a bar under the field shows length: orange while too short, green when it's a good length, orange again when it gets long (Yoast help). The bar is a guide, not a Google rule: Google sets no length limit and trims snippets to fit the screen (Google).

Click Update (or Publish). The description goes into the page's HTML as <meta name="description">.

Where to write it in Rank Math

• Block editor: click the Rank Math icon in the top-right, open the General tab, click Edit Snippet, then fill in Description.
• Classic editor: scroll to the Rank Math box below the editor, General tab.
• Elementor: in the Elementor panel open the SEO tab, then Edit Snippet (Rank Math KB).

Set a default so no page is left empty

Writing every description by hand is the best result, but a sensible default beats a blank.

Sources: Yoast templates, Rank Math variables.

A template built from your excerpt is only as good as your excerpts. If excerpts are empty or start with "Welcome to our blog", fix the excerpt or write the description by hand.

Why your Yoast meta description isn't showing

There are two different problems. Check which one you have.

It isn't in the page's HTML. Open the page, view the source and search for name="description". If it's missing, Yoast lists three causes: the theme doesn't call wp_head(), the field is empty and no default template is set, or the post wasn't updated after you added it (Yoast help). A caching plugin can also serve the old version: clear the cache.

It's in the HTML, but Google shows other text. That's normal. Google writes most snippets from the page content and uses your description when it describes the page better for that search (Google). Different searches can show different snippets for the same page (more in why Google isn't using your meta description). You can't force it, but you can make it more likely: be specific, include facts that are actually on the page, and make sure it matches what the page is about. Google also needs to recrawl the page before any change shows; requesting indexing in Search Console's URL Inspection can speed that up.

10 Yoast meta description examples you can copy

Each one is from a fictional business. Swap in your own facts.

Our title and meta swipe file has 100 title and description pairs for 14 page types, each with a fill-in pattern: get the swipe file.

Do you need Yoast's green light?

No. The green bar and the "focus keyphrase in meta description" check are Yoast's suggestions, not Google's. A description that reads naturally and has a real fact in it beats one forced to include an exact keyphrase. If the keyphrase fits naturally, include it: Google bolds words that match the search.

Edit many descriptions at once

• Yoast: Yoast SEO > Tools > Bulk editor lists posts with their current descriptions and a field for a new one (Yoast).
• Rank Math: see editing SEO meta at scale.

Don't bulk-rewrite everything. Start with the pages that get impressions but few clicks: how to find them in Search Console.