Writing a summary that works
The summary field appears in listings, in search results, and in social previews. Here is how to write one that earns a click.
Each post has a description field. The site uses it in four places: the card
in a listing, the meta description, the social preview, and the RSS feed. One
sentence therefore does a lot of work.
Keep it between 120 and 160 characters
Search engines usually show about 160 characters. Shorter summaries look thin, and longer summaries get cut. The schema allows up to 300 characters, but treat 160 as the practical limit.
Say what the reader gets
A good summary names the problem and the result. Compare these two examples:
Some notes about our image pipeline and a few things we learned.
How we cut the weight of our cover images by 70 percent without changing the way writers upload them.
The second version names a measurable result. It also repeats the words a reader would search for.
Do not repeat the title
The title and the summary appear next to each other. If the summary repeats the title, the reader learns nothing new. Use the summary to add the detail that the title had no room for.
Write it last
Write the post first, then read it once and write the summary from the finished argument. A summary written before the post usually describes the post the writer intended, not the post they wrote.
A short checklist
- One or two sentences.
- No unexplained jargon.
- No promises the post does not keep.
- Full stop at the end.