When publishing a blog post on WordPress, you may notice an optional field labeled Excerpt. You’ll find it over to the right, in the section where you add alt tags and categories.

It’s easy to overlook, but this small section can play a big role in how your content is displayed and discovered.

What Is a WordPress Excerpt?

An excerpt is a brief summary or snippet of your blog post. Think of it as a teaser—a few sentences that explain what your article is about. It doesn’t appear in the main body of your post but instead shows up in places like:

• Your blog’s homepage (depending on your theme)
• Category and archive pages
• Search results
• Blog feeds (RSS)

If you don’t write a custom excerpt, WordPress may automatically generate one by cutting off the first few words of your post. That can lead to awkward, mid-sentence previews that aren’t ideal for drawing readers in.

Benefits of Using an Excerpt

Adding an excerpt gives you control over your blog’s appearance and how your content is introduced. The key benefits include:

• Improved readability: Neater archives and category pages with consistent formatting.
• Better click-through rates: Well-written excerpts act like a hook, enticing readers to click and read more.
• Stronger branding: Excerpts let you set the tone and voice of your content upfront.
• Optimized loading speed: Themes that use excerpts can reduce the amount of text loaded on overview pages.

How to Add a Manual Excerpt on WordPress

1. In your WordPress.com dashboard, create or edit a post.
2. On the right-hand sidebar, click on the “Post” tab.
3. Scroll down to find the “Excerpt” section.
4. Write your custom summary—something catchy, informative, or compelling. You can also use their AI tool and set how many words you would like it to be.
5. Save or publish your post.

If you don’t see the excerpt field, you might need to enable it under Preferences (via the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner of the post editor).

Excerpt vs Meta Description: What’s the Difference?

While they might seem similar, excerpts and meta descriptions serve different purposes:

• Excerpt: Visible on your site. Used for readers navigating blog listings or feeds.
• Meta Description: Hidden in your site’s HTML. Primarily used by search engines to display a description in search results.

You should ideally write both. The excerpt helps with reader experience; the meta description helps with SEO.

However, if you only write one thing, I suggest always at least adding a meta description, as it will help the most with your SEO.

How Long Should an Excerpt Be?

Aim for 30 to 60 words, or roughly 1 to 3 short sentences. Just enough to give context and prompt interest. Avoid overly detailed summaries or duplicating your introduction, depending on your theme.

If your theme doesn’t display excerpts on single posts, or if the excerpt is only used behind the scenes (for RSS feeds or social previews), duplicating the intro is fine.

My personal formula is to set the words at 50 and have AI generate the excerpt. You can always redo it after that or just accept and publish.

I’m actually working on going back and adding excerpts to all of my posts when I notice they are missing. I have over a thousand blog posts on this blog, so there are a lot of missing excerpts!

Not Mandatory, but Smart

Adding a custom excerpt isn’t mandatory, but it’s a smart move. It makes your blog look polished, improves navigation, and enhances the reader’s experience. Pair it with a solid meta description, and you’ll be covering both front-end appeal and back-end SEO.