Generate Product Meta Description

A lightweight WordPress/WooCommerce plugin that dynamically generates SEO-friendly <meta name="description"> tags for product pages using product title and attributes.

Features

• Automatic Setup - Works after activation without configuration
• Keyword Extraction - Uses taxonomy and custom product attributes
• Keyword Filtering - Removes duplicates and keywords already in title
• Keyword Exclusion - Exclude specific keywords via WordPress option
• Single-File Architecture - Minimal code footprint
• Category Fallback - Uses product category when no keywords available

Requirements

• WordPress 5.0+
• WooCommerce (active)
• PHP 7.4+

Installation

Manual Installation

1. Download the plugin files
2. Upload the auto-product-meta-description folder to /wp-content/plugins/
3. Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu in WordPress

From GitHub

cd wp-content/plugins/
git clone https://github.com/ManlyElectronics/auto-product-meta-description.git

Then activate via WordPress admin.

How It Works

The plugin hooks into wp_head and generates meta descriptions through these steps:

1. Extract Keywords - Collects all product attribute values (taxonomy + custom)
2. Remove Duplicates - Eliminates duplicate keywords via array_unique()
3. Apply Exclusions - Removes keywords from the excluded_meta_keywords option
4. Filter Title Words - Removes keywords already present in the product title
5. Generate Description - Combines title with up to 5 unique keywords

Output Examples

With Keywords (Normal)

Field	Value
Title	Blue Cotton T-Shirt
Attributes	Color=Blue, Material=Cotton, Size=Medium, Style=Casual
Output	Blue Cotton T-Shirt: Find medium, casual and more.

Note: "blue" and "cotton" are filtered out because they appear in the title.

Category Fallback (No Usable Keywords)

Field	Value
Title	Premium Laptop Stand
Attributes	None or all filtered out
Category	Computer Accessories
Output	Premium Laptop Stand - Discover our range of computer accessories.

Generic Fallback (No Keywords or Category)

Field	Value
Title	Mystery Product
Output	Mystery Product - Discover our range of products.

Configuration

Excluding Keywords

To exclude specific keywords from meta descriptions, set the excluded_meta_keywords option:

// In your theme's functions.php or a custom plugin
update_option( 'excluded_meta_keywords', 'keyword1, keyword2, keyword3' );

Or via WP-CLI:

wp option update excluded_meta_keywords "keyword1, keyword2, keyword3"

FAQ

Does this plugin require WooCommerce?

Yes, WooCommerce must be installed and activated. The plugin checks for class_exists('WooCommerce') before processing.

How many keywords are included?

Up to 5 keywords after filtering.

Will this conflict with other SEO plugins?

This plugin outputs a standard meta description tag. If you're using Yoast, Rank Math, or similar SEO plugins that also generate meta descriptions, you may want to disable this plugin to avoid duplicates.

Does it work on non-product pages?

No, the plugin only targets WooCommerce product pages (is_singular('product')).

Changelog

1.2

• Fixed duplicate keywords appearing in meta description
• Added filtering to exclude keywords already in product title
• Improved fallback description using product category
• Re-indexed keyword array after filtering

1.1

• Added keyword exclusion support via excluded_meta_keywords option
• Improved attribute extraction for taxonomy and custom attributes
• Added fallback description when no attributes found

1.0

• Initial release

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow WordPress Coding Standards:

# Check coding standards
phpcs --standard=WordPress index.php

Naming Conventions

• Use product_meta_ or add_product_meta_ prefix for new functions/options
• Follow WordPress PHP Coding Standards

License

This project is licensed under the GPL v2 or later - see the LICENSE file for details.

Author

Manly Electronics
https://manlyelectronics.com.au