The SEO / Meta tab controls how a post appears in search results and when shared. Most of the work is already done for you.
#What you set
| Field | Effect |
|---|---|
| Meta title | The title in Google results. Up to 70 characters |
| Meta description | The snippet underneath. Up to 200 characters |
| Canonical URL | Points search engines at the preferred version if the content exists elsewhere |
| No-Index | Hides the post from search engines entirely |
| OG image URL | A custom image for social sharing. Falls back to your featured image |
#The Google preview
A live card shows exactly how the post will look in search results, and warns you if the meta title, meta description or featured image is missing, before you publish rather than after.
#What happens automatically
| Added to every published post | Does what |
|---|---|
| Open Graph tags | Rich previews on Facebook, LinkedIn and messaging apps |
| Twitter cards | Large-image cards where there is an image, standard where not |
| Structured data | Full article markup, headline, description, image, author, dates, word count, keywords, so search engines and AI assistants can read it properly |
| Sitemap entry | Automatic inclusion so crawlers find it |
| RSS feed entry | Your 50 most recent posts, subscribable in any reader |
You do not have to do anything for this
Every published post gets all of it. The fields above simply let you override the defaults where you want to.
#No-Index
This removes the post from search and from your sitemap
A no-indexed post is reachable by direct link and invisible to everything else, including AI assistants. Right for a test post or something you want to share privately. Wrong, and easy to leave on by accident, for a post you want found.
#Writing meta text worth reading
- The meta title is a headline for a stranger, not for someone already on your site.
- Name the place. "Cary" earns more than "our area".
- The description should give a reason to click, not summarise the whole post.
- Write both. Left blank, something is chosen for you and it reads like it was.