Using the SharePoint Site Description to enhance findability in Search

SharePoint has always had a Site Description field where you can provide an explanation of what your site is used for. However, it never seemed to show up in search results, so it wasn’t as useful as it could be. Fortunately, a recent change by Microsoft (outlined by Mikael Svenson in this blog post) means that the Site Description is now indexed by Search, and can help people find your site more easily. Here’s how it works…

In our SharePoint Migration site, we have a Description as you can see below:

Now when we search all of SharePoint using the words “public facing“, we get a search result returned for our migration site:

If you have a modern SharePoint site, you can add or update the description by clicking on the Settings icon, followed by clicking on the Site Information option:

Add or update the Site description field and click Save:

If your SharePoint site uses the classic template, click on the Settings icon, followed by the Site Settings option:

In Site Settings, select Title, description, and logo:

Add or update the Description field and click OK:

Once the search index runs against your site, it will pick up the description and make it available for searches.

Being able to have people more easily find your site in Search is a GREAT reason to make sure your Site Description is completed and up-to-date.