Meta descriptions are essential for several reasons when it comes to SEO. Although not considered by Google to be a direct ranking factor, they can indirectly affect your page rankings.

In the Google search engine results pages (SERPs), the grey text underneath the blue titled link is the meta description. This text is generally the second thing a searcher reads when scanning the SERPs to decide what website to visit because it influences the searcher’s decision; a well-written meta description can boost and increase rankings indirectly by increasing the click-through rate of the SERP.

In other words, your meta description acts as “organic ad text” because it’s a mini ad to sell the searcher on the page they are about to visit. The more compelling it is, the more likely the searcher will click on that result and visit the page.