Member Avatar for LeighWilkes

Hi
Can a web page have 2 meta description tags?
My web designers created my template but I've built the reminding pages around it. My web designers have added meta description tag to my template so it appears on all pages. I have also added another meta description tag for each page I created. Is this ok

Edited by LeighWilkes
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A page can technically contain two meta description tags, but that is not a good practice. , having both a template-level description and per-page descriptions is what creates the duplicate tags you described. and highlighted the mixed behavior search engines show when more than one description exists — the practical effect is unpredictable snippets and a higher chance of duplicate or irrelevant text appearing in search results.

Make the template output a single, conditional description so every page has exactly one meta tag. Example patterns (generic):

<!-- template -->
<meta name="description" content="{{ page_description | default(site_description) }}">

Or for static pages, put a single explicit tag per page:

<meta name="description" content="Short, page-specific summary (approx 50-160 chars)">

Troubleshooting: view the page source or use the browser DevTools Elements panel and search for meta name="description". Command-line quick check:

curl -s https://example.com/page | grep -i 'meta name="description"'

If two lines appear, remove or convert the template tag to a conditional/fallback. Then re-check the rendered HTML and re-crawl/inspect the URL in Search Console (or equivalent) to see how crawlers view the page.

Practical tips: keep each description concise and unique (aim for a compelling 50–160 characters), avoid repeating the same site-wide copy across many pages, and use Open Graph og:description for social previews if needed. Fixing this at the template level ensures consistent snippets and better click-through behavior in search results.

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Member Avatar for LeighWilkes

Hi
Thanks for this
So to confirm, having 2 meta description tags won't effect my google ranking?

Member Avatar for Member #949455

So to confirm, having 2 meta description tags won't effect my google ranking?

It really depends what you put in the meta description tags.

In the article, it did mention Google don't use meta descriptions as a ranking factor.

I think the link provide a nice example using 2 meta description tags.

Member Avatar for LeighWilkes

Really appreciate your help, thanks. Still fairly new to SEO and I'm self teaching. I didn't have chance to read the full article but I will get a chance later today

Member Avatar for niktar75

I had also that question. The link given by "LastMitch" is very useful. That is really excellent for Multiple Page Title & Meta Description Tags. Post at SEOMOZ with good direction with code and image id effective.

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