Optimising Meta Descriptions: Continuously, Not Once a Year
Most websites optimise their meta descriptions exactly once – at relaunch. After that the shop grows, the CMS creates new pages with automatic snippets, and nobody looks again. The On-Page module takes over this maintenance permanently.
Five checkpoints across your live pages
The module continuously checks every indexable page of your website – the elements that decide the click in search: titles and meta descriptions that are missing, too long, too short, duplicated or automatically assembled by the CMS from the first paragraph; Google-replaced titles, detected via Google Search Console; the heading structure with exactly one H1 per page and no jumps from H2 to H4; duplicate titles and descriptions across the entire website; and continuous snippet monitoring.
The data comes from Screaming Frog and Google Search Console. The module works with WordPress, Shopify, Shopware and TYPO3 and, as part of MCP SEO, costs €99 to €399 per month, plus credits for processing.
Google builds its own title and snippet – if you let it
Google generates title links and snippets automatically and draws on several sources: your title element, the H1, the visible page title, even anchor texts from other pages. If your title is half-empty, outdated or almost identical on every page, Google replaces it with one of its own – as described in the Google documentation on title links. With the snippet it’s even stricter: Google draws it primarily from the page content and, per its own snippet documentation , only uses your meta description when it describes the page better than the content itself.
Half-empty title
Google replaces it without comment with one of its own – the click is then decided without your intent.
Almost identical titles
Practically the same title on every page vanishes into Google’s rebuild because it offers no distinction.
CMS description from the first paragraph
Not wrong, but also no reason to click.
Invisible damage
The page ranks, the impressions are there – but the snippet doesn’t sell.
“Across my around 15 parallel client projects – e-commerce and B2B alike – the most common finding is always the same: descriptions the CMS has cut together from the first paragraph. Not wrong, but also no reason to click.”
— Viktor Pásztor, SEO freelancerFive steps, always in this order
Take inventory
Crawl of the entire website, reconciled with the Search Console data: missing titles, duplicates, jumps in the heading hierarchy.
Compare with the display
The module compares what you’ve set with what Google actually displays. If the title link differs, the cause is assigned: half-empty, outdated, boilerplate.
Reformulate
Suggestions for titles that stick – distinct per page, congruent with the visible H1, without filler.
Monitoring
After implementation, the module observes via Search Console whether Google adopts the new version. Per Google, this takes a few days to weeks, because the page has to be re-crawled.
Approval
Every suggestion reaches you as a list – you approve, change or reject. Without your yes, nothing happens on the website.
DIY / pro / agency / automated
| Criterion | Do it yourself | SEO pro (manual) | Agency | How I do it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costs | your working time | €100 per hour | monthly packages, depending on provider | €99–399 per month, depending on module scope, plus credit usage as consumed |
| Rhythm | when there’s time | per assignment | depending on contract | continuous |
| Coverage | a sample | the most important pages | depending on budget | every indexable page |
| Detects when Google replaces titles | barely | on request | depending on package | automatically, via Search Console |
| Judgement on cannibalisation | gut feeling | yes – that’s what they’re there for | yes | no, stays a human matter |
| Commitment | none | per assignment | depending on contract | cancellable monthly |
Four effects of continuous maintenance
Of all MCP SEO modules, this one delivers the fastest visible effect: per Google, a corrected snippet appears in the search results within days to weeks after the next crawl.
Quickly visible
A corrected snippet appears in the search results after the next crawl – hardly any other SEO result can you verify so early with your own eyes.
Clean inventory
New pages without a description get noticed immediately instead of at the next audit.
No duplicates
Duplicate titles don’t arise in the first place.
Everything stays yours
Findings bundled, results in the quarterly report, access belongs to you.
There’s no ranking guarantee – not from me, and from no one serious. What there is: snippets with intent behind them instead of a CMS automatism.
Questions about meta description and title
How many characters can a meta description have?
Google names no fixed character or pixel limit – neither for the title nor the description. Truncation happens to fit the device width, as stated in the snippet documentation. More important than any character count: the core message has to come first.
Why does Google show a different title than mine?
Google assembles title links from several sources, including the title element, H1 and anchor texts. If Google detects a problem, such as a half-empty or outdated title, it replaces your title with its own. The module finds such cases and formulates the title so Google keeps it.
Does the module replace manual on-page optimisation?
No. The module maintains the inventory: titles, descriptions, headings, monitoring. Whether two pages belong together or a piece of content needs realigning is not decided by a script – that stays manual work with judgement.
What does the module cost?
MCP SEO costs €99 to €399 per month, plus credits. Which tier includes what is on the costs page. Cancellable monthly, without fine print.
Back to the pillar
The On-Page module is a building block of MCP SEO, my system for automated SEO routine work. The neighbouring modules interlock: SEO Texts creates new content whose meta data this module then maintains in the inventory. Internal linking keeps anchor texts and titles consistent with the page titles. And technical SEO ensures Google can crawl the corrected pages at all.
Need judgement instead of maintenance – for cannibalisation, say? The on-page optimisation as a manual service covers that. What each route costs is on the SEO costs.
Have your titles and descriptions checked
Want to know how your titles and descriptions currently look – and what Google makes of them? Write to me. You’ll get a reply within 24 hours on weekdays.
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