In short. Edit a Ghost post's meta title and description under Meta data in the editor's post settings menu.
Definition: A Ghost post's search metadata is its meta title and description, the title and summary supplied for search engines. As of 17 October 2026, Ghost documents these fields in the editor's post settings menu, under Meta data.
Key facts
- Ghost's post settings documentation places custom metadata in Meta data and advises writing the meta title and description for human readers.
- Ghost's SEO documentation describes a preview that appears while metadata is entered, plus automatic fallback content when the fields are blank.
- As of 17 October 2026, Google's snippet documentation explains that a search result's descriptive summary primarily comes from page content; Google sometimes uses the meta description.
Where are the fields for an individual post?
The editing route is to open the post in Ghost's editor, open its post settings menu, and select Meta data. The meta title supplies the search-facing title, and the description supplies a summary of the post. Ghost's post settings guide recommends staying within the character guidance shown for these fields and writing for humans.
These controls apply to the individual post. Ghost's SEO guide separately identifies homepage metadata in the site's general settings. A homepage description and an individual article description therefore have separate editing locations.
What happens in the preview or when fields are blank?
Ghost's SEO documentation says that entering metadata produces a preview. This provides an editorial check of the supplied title and description before assessing their appearance in search.
The same documentation says that Ghost uses available page content as a fallback when custom metadata is blank. Leaving the fields empty therefore still allows automatic metadata. A custom description provides an opportunity to summarize the particular article in wording chosen by its editor.
How does the description relate to a search snippet?
A snippet is the descriptive summary in a search result. Google's snippet guidance says snippets are created automatically and can differ between searches for the same page. The meta description is one possible source for that text.
The description appears in an HTML tag's content attribute. This schematic example uses an ellipsis in place of the post's summary:
<meta name="description" content="...">
Google recommends descriptions that accurately summarize each specific page. Its guidance sets no fixed maximum description length; displayed snippets are shortened as needed, typically to fit the device width. The practical writing target is a relevant page summary, with the published search result assessed separately from Ghost's editor preview.
Related terms
- How do I write a custom excerpt for a Ghost post?
- Does Ghost require an SEO plugin for basic metadata?
- Why does a Ghost theme need the ghost_head helper?
- Does Google require a fixed meta description length?
FAQ
Can I leave the metadata fields empty?
Yes. Ghost's SEO documentation says it uses available page content as a fallback when you leave custom metadata blank.
Where do I change the homepage description?
You can edit homepage metadata in the site's general settings. The same Ghost documentation distinguishes that location from each post's settings menu.
Should I repeat one description across all posts?
Google's snippet guidance recommends descriptions that accurately describe the specific page. You can use each post's description field to provide that page-specific summary.
Sources
- Ghost, "Preparing posts for publishing", updated 3 January 2024
- Ghost, "SEO in Ghost", updated 24 October 2023
- Google Search Central, "Control your snippets in search results", updated 20 April 2026
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