Meta descriptions are between 120-160 characters

The SERP description snippet is your only free 150-character ad copy above the fold for an organic listing. A 40-character description leaves empty space that Google may refill with scraped text you did not write; a 240-character description gets truncated mid-sentence, often on a comma or preposition, so the reader never sees the call to action. Both failure modes leak clicks to competitors whose descriptions fit the viewport cleanly.

Write descriptions in the 120-160 character band. Fit a claim plus a differentiator plus a verb — not a list of keywords. Check the length programmatically in tests or in the CMS field.

// app/about/page.tsx — 128 characters
export const metadata = {
  description: 'Learn about our team, our mission to improve vibe-coded projects, and how AuditBuffet helps developers ship with confidence.',
}

For dynamic content, clamp the string in generateMetadata with .slice(0, 157) + '...' so CMS content cannot overrun the limit.

• ID: seo-fundamentals.meta-tags.description-length

• Severity: info

• What to look for: For pages where you can determine the description text (from static metadata exports), check the character length. Dynamic descriptions cannot be checked statically.

• Pass criteria: Count all statically determinable descriptions. For each description, measure its character length. All must be at least 120 characters and no more than 160 characters.

• Fail criteria: Any statically determinable description has fewer than 120 characters or more than 160 characters. For each failing description, report its exact character count and the page route.

• Skip (N/A) when: All descriptions are dynamically generated and cannot be evaluated statically. Also skip when the meta-description check result is fail or skip — there is no description to measure length on.

• Detail on fail: Name the pages and their description lengths. Example: "Description on / is 45 chars (below 120 minimum), /about is 210 chars (exceeds 160 limit)"

• Remediation: Search engines typically display 150-160 characters of a meta description. Descriptions shorter than 120 characters leave space unused. Descriptions longer than 160 characters get truncated. Aim for compelling descriptions in the 120-160 character range:

  // app/about/page.tsx — aim for 120-160 characters
  export const metadata = {
    description: 'Learn about our team, our mission to improve vibe-coded projects, and how AuditBuffet helps developers ship with confidence.',  // 128 chars
  }