Meta description is present
Why it matters
Without a meta description, Google synthesizes a snippet from scraped page text — usually the first paragraph or a nav fragment — which rarely matches searcher intent and costs measurable click-through rate. A present but default-placeholder description like "Web site created using create-react-app" is worse: it broadcasts that nobody finished the site, which users read as a trust signal before they click. Findability depends on controlling that snippet.
Severity rationale
High because the description drives CTR on every search impression and defaults broadcast abandonment.
Remediation
Write a 120-155 character description that names the page's value proposition and a concrete call-to-action. Add it to the document head directly, or in Next.js App Router export it from the route:
// app/page.tsx
export const metadata = {
description: 'Specific summary of what this page offers, in 120-155 characters.',
};
Detection
-
ID:
meta-description -
Severity:
high -
What to look for: Count the number of
<meta name="description">tags in the HTML. Extract thecontentattribute value and measure its character length. Check against known placeholder patterns: "Web site created using create-react-app", "A Next.js app", "Generated by create next app". -
Pass criteria: At least 1
<meta name="description">tag exists with acontentattribute containing meaningful text between 50 and 160 characters (inclusive). The description must not match known framework default placeholders. Report the actual character count. -
Fail criteria: No
<meta name="description">tag found,contentattribute is missing or empty, character count is outside the 50-160 range, or matches a known default placeholder. -
Skip (N/A) when: The response
Content-Typeis not HTML (e.g., JSON API, XML feed, plain text). -
Error when: SPA detected.
-
Detail on fail:
"No meta description tag found"or"Meta description is 12 characters — too short for search results" -
Remediation: The meta description appears as the snippet below your title in search results. Without it, search engines auto-generate one (often poorly). Add it to your
<head>:<meta name="description" content="A concise summary of your page in 50-160 characters.">In Next.js App Router:
export const metadata = { description: 'Your summary here' }. Keep it between 120-155 characters for optimal display in Google results.
Taxons
History
- 2026-04-18·v1.0.0·Initial import from site-health-check·automated