Check · seo · scored
Meta description: what it measures
Whether a meta description is present and its length.
How it is determined
The check reads the response your server returns and records what it found. That observation is stored with the report, so reopening an old audit shows what was true on the day it ran rather than what the page says now. It is not a live measurement, and it is not a model’s opinion of your page.
Ruleset description · category seo · can count towards the checklist score
What it cannot tell you
- Whether it will be shown. Google frequently writes its own snippet from page text.
- Whether a missing description costs you clicks — that depends on the query.
If it failed, what to do
Add a meta description. A missing one is a missed opportunity rather than an error.
Then verify it yourself rather than trusting the next report: reload the page, view the source, and look at the thing the check described. A check you can falsify in ten seconds is the only kind worth having.