Meta descriptions matter for one reason: they sell the click. Google doesn't use them as a ranking signal, but they appear as the snippet text under your title in search results. If your description is more relevant or compelling than the nine other results on page one, you get more clicks. More clicks mean more traffic at the same ranking position. The ROI is measurable. We've seen meta description rewrites increase CTR from 2.8% to 4.1% for position 3-5 results. That's a 46% traffic lift without moving up a single spot. For a page getting 800 impressions monthly, that's an extra 10-13 visits. Multiply across 50 pages and you're talking real business impact. Google rewrites meta descriptions about 63% of the time anyway, pulling text from your page that better matches the query. This doesn't make them pointless—it means you should write for both scenarios. Your meta description should summarize the page's value proposition for generic searches, while your body copy needs strong sentences that work as snippet alternatives for long-tail queries. Effective meta descriptions run 140-155 characters to avoid truncation. They include the primary keyword naturally, mention a specific benefit or number, and match search intent. For commercial pages, we often add a qualifier like pricing, location, or timeframe. A Toronto contractor page might say: "Licensed basement waterproofing in Toronto. 48-hour response, 10-year warranty. Free quote: 647-xxx-xxxx." Avoid duplicate descriptions across pages—Google may ignore them entirely. Don't stuff keywords or make promises your page doesn't keep; high bounce rates will eventually hurt you. For product pages or blog archives with hundreds of URLs, programmatic templates work fine as long as they include the unique product name or post title. We write meta descriptions for every page in the main navigation and any page targeting commercial intent. For thin archive pages or old blog posts with minimal traffic potential, we skip them and let Google extract snippets. It's about leverage: spend time where CTR improvements actually move revenue.