SEOscanner.app

Rule · Document head and metadata

Meta descriptions are page-specific

SEO-META-02BC2 Recommended· w4

Class
C2 Recommended
Weight
4
Severity on fail
major
Applies to
Google

Test this rule on a live site with the meta description checker. Free, no account needed.

Scope and evidence

Evaluated on page (P). The book marks this requirement DOCUMENTED RECOMMENDATION, SEARCH-ENGINE-SPECIFIC.

Fail conditions

Each condition has a stable code and a reason template. The evaluator fills the placeholders from observed values only; no sentence in a report is generated.

  • duplicate

    The meta description on {url} is identical to the one on {n} other intended pages, including {examples}. Google notes that identical or similar descriptions on every page aren't helpful when individual pages appear in results, and recommends page-level descriptions.

The documented fix

Write page-specific descriptions, or leave the field empty rather than repeating a sitewide default.

Sources, quoted

These are the passages the rule rests on, stored once in the knowledge base and emitted exactly as written. A citation marked for specific conditions appears only on findings with those codes.

  • “Identical or similar descriptions on every page of a site aren't helpful when individual pages appear in search results.”

    [G-SNIPPET] Control your snippets in search results · Create unique descriptions for each page on your site · last updated 2026-04-20

    https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/snippet
  • “create descriptions that accurately describe the specific page. Use site-level descriptions on the main home page or other aggregation pages, and use page-level descriptions everywhere else.”

    [G-SNIPPET] Control your snippets in search results · Create unique descriptions for each page on your site · last updated 2026-04-20

    https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/snippet