diff --git a/lib/site_template/_includes/head.html b/lib/site_template/_includes/head.html
index 4d7e8f00..b4995838 100644
--- a/lib/site_template/_includes/head.html
+++ b/lib/site_template/_includes/head.html
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
 
     <title>{% if page.title %}{{ page.title }}{% else %}{{ site.title }}{% endif %}</title>
-    <meta name="description" content="{{ site.description }}">
+    <meta name="description" content="{% if page.excerpt %}{{ page.excerpt | strip_html | truncate: 160 }}{% else %}{{ site.description }}{% endif %}" />
 
     <link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ "/css/main.css" | prepend: site.baseurl }}">
     <link rel="canonical" href="{{ page.url | replace:'index.html','' | prepend: site.baseurl | prepend: site.url }}">