A place's Description is one field doing two jobs: it's the text a visitor reads on the card, and it's part of the hidden text that search matches against. Writing with both in mind gets you a card that reads well and a place that's easy to find.
Where the description shows up
| Place | How it appears |
|---|---|
| The place card | In full, below the buttons, with your paragraph breaks preserved. |
| Under the name in the list | As a short snippet — only if Show description under names is on. |
| Search | The whole description is searched, whether or not it's displayed. |
Write the first line to stand alone
When shown under a name in the list, the description is trimmed to a short snippet. Lead with the most useful words — what the place is and why a visitor cares — so the snippet still makes sense on its own. Save the detail for later sentences.
Work in the words people search
Because the description feeds search, it's the natural home for keywords that don't belong in a short name — brands stocked, cuisines, services, alternative names. A stall called "Green Bowl" that mentions "vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free" in its description will surface for any of those searches without cluttering its name.
Formatting: paragraphs and basic HTML
The description keeps the line breaks you type, so pressing Enter for a new paragraph shows as a real break on the card. You can also use basic HTML — for example <b>bold</b> for emphasis or a <br> for a single line break. Both ways of breaking a line land the same on the card.
A quick checklist
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Lead with the essentials
The first line should make sense as a standalone snippet.
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Add the searchable extras
Brands, cuisines, services and alternative names a visitor might type.
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Break it into short paragraphs
Press Enter between them; the breaks are kept.
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Keep it tight
A card is small — a few short sentences beats an essay.