IMPORTANT: The information in this article only applies to CrystalCommerce themes which were set up (or updated) after April 17th, 2023. If your site is older than that, the way the meta descriptions work may vary, and may be different for different themes (we do not have a version history log of the meta description changes for different sites and themes, so we can’t provide documentation for each one).
In order to have full control over meta descriptions as noted below and be sure they will work how you want, you will need to be on a modern theme. If your theme is old, contact us to discuss your options for migrating to a newer theme.
The following information describes how meta descriptions are set up on your website. These are used for the site meta description, which is sometimes shown in internet search engine results (Google, etc) as preview text below the site link, as well as the “og” (open graph) meta description, which is used for some social media sharing previews.
Note that meta descriptions have very little impact on SEO ranking. That said, there are other benefits to having well crafted meta descriptions, so it may be worth your time to customize them for your store.
Product pages meta description
The meta tag will use the individual product’s description if it is filled out. You can edit the description for each product in your admin.
If the description isn’t filled out, the meta tag will use a generic description about buying (or selling) the product at your store.
Category and Parent Category pages meta descriptions
The meta tag will use the individual category’s description if it is filled out. You can edit the description for each category in your admin.
If the description isn’t filled out, the meta tag will use a generic description about buying (or selling) products in that category at your store.
Page meta descriptions (for actual “pages” such as Home, About Us, etc)
The meta tag will use the individual page’s description if it is filled out. You can edit the description for each page in your admin.
If one page’s description isn’t filled out, but there is a description for the “Home” page, the meta tag will use the home page’s description. In other words, if you fill out the “Home” page description, it becomes the default description for all other site pages (but not products, categories, etc)
If the home page and other page descriptions are not filled out, the meta tag will use a generic description about shopping at your store: “Shop for great deals at [your store name].”