Hi, I'm Nikki Pilkington. My site is https://nikki-pilkington.com/ and in this episode of "SEO F**king What", I'm talking about the one bit of SEO that isn't a ranking factor but is absolutely the thing that decides whether anyone actually clicks on your listing — your meta descriptions. You've probably never written one, duplicated the same one across your whole site, or let Yoast bully you into stuffing it with keywords. All three are fucked.Here's what I'm covering:— Why your meta description isn't a ranking factor — but still decides whether anyone clicks— What a good meta description actually does (and the 155-character rule)— Why Google bolds search terms, and why that matters for getting clicks— The parade of horrors: missing descriptions, duplicate descriptions, and corporate waffle— Why the Yoast green light isn't the goal — writing for a human is— A proper before-and-after for an HR consultant that shows you exactly what to write— The Mark Williams-Cook argument for not writing them at all — and why I still say you should, for small B2B sitesI also give you proper homework. Three things to do this week that will sort out your meta descriptions without taking all day.If you know someone whose search result description reads like it was written by a committee, send them this. It might be the reason they're not getting the clicks they deserve.Get found. Make money. Stop stressing. Write it for a human.Links mentioned:Non-Wanky SEO Courses: https://nonwankyseo.comSearchPilot meta description research: https://www.searchpilot.comFollow Nikki:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkipilkington/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkipilkington/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/nikkipilkington.bsky.socialMentioned in this episode:ICN Network

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.