ℹ Info SEO

Meta Description Too Short — Write a More Compelling Snippet

A short meta description may not provide enough context in search results.

What's the issue?

Your <meta name="description"> is under 50 characters. Short descriptions waste the snippet space in search results and provide little context to help users decide whether to click.

Why longer descriptions work better

Google gives you approximately 150-160 characters of prime real estate in search results. Using only 50 characters is like running a half-empty billboard. More descriptive snippets:

Increase CTR by giving users confidence about what they'll find
Match more search queries — Google bolds matching terms in the snippet
Set expectations — Users who click are more likely to stay on the page

How to fix it

<!-- Too short (30 chars) -->
<meta name="description" content="Check out our new features." />

<!-- Better (150 chars) -->
<meta name="description" content="Explore our latest features: real-time collaboration, AI-powered suggestions, and 50+ integrations. Free for teams up to 10. Start in minutes." />

What to include in your description

What is the page about? — Topic or product
Who is it for? — Target audience
What's the benefit? — Value proposition
What should they do? — Soft call to action
What makes it unique? — Differentiator from competitors

Check your Open Graph tags

Related articles

Missing og:title

The og:title tag is essential for social sharing. Without it, platforms will use the page title or URL.

og:title Is Too Long

Titles longer than 60 characters may be truncated on social platforms.

og:title Is Too Short

Short titles may not be descriptive enough for social sharing.

Missing og:description

The og:description tag provides a summary of the page content for social platforms.

og:description Is Too Long

Descriptions over 160 characters may be truncated on social platforms.

og:description Is Too Short

Short descriptions miss the opportunity to engage users.

OpenGraph MCP Server

Inspect OG tags directly from your editor

The OpenGraph MCP server lets you inspect and analyze Open Graph meta tags directly from your AI-powered editor or assistant. It provides two tools:

inspect_og — Fetch and score OG tags for any URL
suggest_og_tags — Generate recommended meta tag HTML

Add the server to your project's .cursor/mcp.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "opengraph": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "opengraph-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor after adding the configuration.

Add to your .vscode/mcp.json file (requires GitHub Copilot extension):

{
  "servers": {
    "opengraph": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "opengraph-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Make sure you have GitHub Copilot with MCP support enabled.

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "opengraph": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "opengraph-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

The config file is at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows.

Add to your ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "opengraph": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "opengraph-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Windsurf after modifying the configuration.

Add to your Zed settings.json under context_servers:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "opengraph": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "opengraph-mcp"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Open settings with Cmd+, and add the configuration.

Usage examples

▶ "Inspect the OG tags of github.com"

▶ "Suggest OG meta tags for my website https://example.com"

▶ "Check if my blog post has proper Open Graph tags"