Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • MozCon
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. On-Page Optimization
    4. Can I use the same text in my meta description as I put in my post excerpt?

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    Can I use the same text in my meta description as I put in my post excerpt?

    On-Page Optimization
    6
    9
    6116
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • seowhiskey
      seowhiskey last edited by

      Hi,

      I'm just trying to understand the right way to optimise my blog posts and this is likely a dumb question... but to what extent should the text in my meta description differ from the text in my post excerpts?

      cheers, Andrew

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • WesleySmits
        WesleySmits last edited by

        Wouldn't recommend using exactly the same text. Always try to avoid duplicate texts anywhere on the web. I know it's a lot of work to write a blog post, an excerpt and a meta description text but it's worth the effort as long as the content you write is of good quality.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • ChristopherGlaeser
          ChristopherGlaeser @Raydon last edited by

          I agree.  Each should target it's purpose.  If they are the same, fine, if not, fine too.  My excerpts are usually longer than my meta descriptions and for that reason alone they are typically different, but it's not my objective to make them different.

          Best,
          Christopher

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • Raydon
            Raydon @ChristopherGlaeser last edited by

            Hi Christopher

            I am not aware of any specific tests, but In my experience I would say that it will depend. Sometimes you may not want a too long of a url string, while your title could technically be long and yet visually fit nicely on page.

            But for SEO purposes and for ranking, it definitely helps in my opinion to include the proper long tail kw string of focus in both url and page title tag. Those are among the most worth on-page cues one can utilize for best results.

            ChristopherGlaeser 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • TakeshiYoung
              TakeshiYoung last edited by

              The meta description is the description that is usually displayed in the search results (usually, because Google can change it to whatever they want). It has absolutely zero impact on your SEO rankings. What you want to do with the meta description is make it compelling so that people will click through to your site. Approach it like you approach writing copy for an Adwords ad.

              The excerpt (I'm assuming you're using Wordpress) is the snippet of text that appears on category pages and other archive pages on your site. Usually, this is just the first several lines of your post, but you can customize this to be a short summary of the content of the post. The summary approach is better from an SEO perspective since it is unique content, and may be a better experience for your users as well. However, writing a custom excerpt for each and every post can take time & resources, so you'll have to decide for yourself whether it's worth the effort.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
              • ChristopherGlaeser
                ChristopherGlaeser @brad.s.knutson last edited by

                My excerpts do not appear anywhere on the page.  They appear on the category page that links to the page.

                Best,
                Christopher

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • brad.s.knutson
                  brad.s.knutson last edited by

                  The post excerpt is likely the first paragraph or so of your post, and often times doesn't include your target keywords and is not a good preview of what the post is all about.

                  You should tailor your meta description to potential readers.  Give them a reason to click through and read your article.

                  Your Open Graph description should also be tailored for social networks to promote sharing.  This description is likely different than your meta description and probably much different then your post excerpt.

                  ChristopherGlaeser 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • ChristopherGlaeser
                    ChristopherGlaeser @Raydon last edited by

                    Hi Omid, has someone tested same vs different to show that one is better than the other?

                    Best,
                    Christopher

                    Raydon 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • Raydon
                      Raydon last edited by

                      not identical text. best is not to do that. however, you should and are encouraged to use the same targeted keywords in meta description and post excerpt and if fitting ,post url and title. try to avoid identical strings of words, no identical sentences, stay unique in each readable text section as much as possible, while holding on to your desire kw.

                      title and url being the same is perfectly ok.

                      ChristopherGlaeser 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                      • 1 / 1
                      • First post
                        Last post

                      Got a burning SEO question?

                      Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                      Start my free trial


                      Browse Questions

                      Explore more categories

                      • Moz Tools

                        Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                      • SEO Tactics

                        Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                      • Community

                        Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                      • Digital Marketing

                        Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                      • Research & Trends

                        Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                      • Support

                        Connect on product support and feature requests.

                      • See all categories

                      Related Questions

                      • kowston

                        What heading tag to use on sidebars and footers

                        Hello, I have some awareness of how to use H1, H2 and H3.
                        H1 only once per page as the main page heading.
                        H2's should be subheadings, H3's are sub-sub headings of the and so on. 
                        This structure gives hierarchy and opportunities to use additional keywords in an order of priority. I can clearly understand how this would work in an article but what about other content on the page such as global/frequently repeated elements like sidebars and footers? I see sites - and in particular, I have examed SEO focused sites - that use  H3, H4 and H5 in these instances seemingly giving themselves scope to use at least H2 tags as part of the page content and break out of the structure hierarchy when dealing with sidebars and footers. I suppose this could signal theses headings are sections of the page that are less relevant than the main article content but that is just an assumption. I don't know what is correct.

                        On-Page Optimization | | kowston
                        0
                      • RosemaryB

                        Can we change Title and/or Descriptions Dynamically Based on Search Query

                        If I recall we used to be able to change our title attributes tag dynamically based on the search query but not sure if it's possible now or if it makes sense to do so. Thoughts? Rosemary

                        On-Page Optimization | | RosemaryB
                        1
                      • WallerD

                        No meta description on category page

                        Hi Moz is reporting no meta description on a wordpress category page like this one: http://www.dwliverpoolphotography.co.uk/category/uncategorized/ Can I add a meta description to a category? Best wishes. David.

                        On-Page Optimization | | WallerD
                        0
                      • onwardsandupwards

                        How often should we refresh or rewrite product descriptions?

                        is it good practice to rewrite our product descriptions every few months? Thanks

                        On-Page Optimization | | onwardsandupwards
                        0
                      • IBMEMM

                        Text within a Div Crawlable?

                        Hi, I have a paragraph of text contained within a Div container ( )..  Is this readable by a search engine spider.  Or is it better to enclose it within ? Thanks for any feedback.

                        On-Page Optimization | | IBMEMM
                        0
                      • DTOSI

                        Do you think using accordion text can hurt SEO?

                        I have a lot of text for my home page. My plan is to a J Query Plugin for accordion text. Does anyone think that this can hurt SEO efforts?

                        On-Page Optimization | | DTOSI
                        1
                      • dawsonski

                        Do I need a Meta description for every page?

                        HI Guys, We have just developed a new website and I'm looking to add meta descriptions with relevant key words to the pages . As the site has over 80 pages it is quite an undertaking and i was wandering if pages, such as  the shopping cart  and FAQ's etc,  need meta  descriptions as well? Thanks in advance : ) Pete

                        On-Page Optimization | | dawsonski
                        0
                      • SewFabulous

                        Can search engines find the text in a drop down menu? Is it better to have more links or a drop down menu?

                        Can search engines find the text in a drop down menu?

                        On-Page Optimization | | SewFabulous
                        0

                      Get started with Moz Pro!

                      Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                      Start my free trial
                      Products
                      • Moz Pro
                      • Moz Local
                      • Moz API
                      • Moz Data
                      • STAT
                      • Product Updates
                      Moz Solutions
                      • SMB Solutions
                      • Agency Solutions
                      • Enterprise Solutions
                      Free SEO Tools
                      • Domain Authority Checker
                      • Link Explorer
                      • Keyword Explorer
                      • Competitive Research
                      • Brand Authority Checker
                      • Local Citation Checker
                      • MozBar Extension
                      • MozCast
                      Resources
                      • Blog
                      • SEO Learning Center
                      • Help Hub
                      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                      • How-to Guides
                      • Moz Academy
                      • API Docs
                      About Moz
                      • About
                      • Team
                      • Careers
                      • Contact
                      Why Moz
                      • Case Studies
                      • Testimonials
                      Get Involved
                      • Become an Affiliate
                      • MozCon
                      • Webinars
                      • Practical Marketer Series
                      • MozPod
                      Connect with us

                      Contact the Help team

                      Join our newsletter
                      Moz logo
                      © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                      • Accessibility
                      • Terms of Use
                      • Privacy

                      Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.