Meta descriptions have zero direct ranking weight in Google's algorithm, but they matter for click-through rate, which does influence rankings indirectly. A compelling meta can push CTR up 5–15% compared to a generic or auto-generated snippet, and higher CTR from the SERP tells Google your result satisfies intent better than competitors at the same position. The optimal length is 150–160 characters. Google typically truncates around 155–160, but mobile can cut sooner. If you go over, your key message gets clipped with an ellipsis, which looks sloppy and costs clicks. If you go under 100 characters, you're wasting real estate that could reinforce your value proposition or include a secondary keyword. Write the meta as an ad, not a summary. Lead with the benefit or answer, include your primary keyword naturally (Google bolds matching terms in the SERP), and add a clear reason to click—price, speed, unique angle, location if it matters. For local Ottawa businesses, we often append "Ottawa" or "Ontario" to trigger geographic relevance without stuffing. Google rewrites meta descriptions about 60–70% of the time, pulling from on-page content if it thinks it better matches the query. You can't prevent this, but a tightly written meta that aligns with your H1 and first paragraph reduces the rewrite rate. If Google keeps ignoring your meta, it usually means your description doesn't match what users actually search for or your page content is misaligned. At Ottawa SEO, we treat the meta as the last 10% of on-page optimization—title tag, H1, and content structure matter more, but skipping the meta is leaving clicks on the table. We write unique metas for all primary landing pages and templates for scale on category or product pages. Duplicate metas across pages are low-priority fixes unless those pages compete for the same keywords, which is a bigger structural problem.