Do description tags matter for SEO or not?

Rating: +2

Does it matter if the site has unique description tags on every page? Absolutely.

Does it matter for ranking? Well, admittedly not so much, but your SEO has given you accurate advice, and I'd follow it if I were you.

Yes the search engines prefer to see unique description tags on every page, but more importantly, so do your potential customers when they see your site come up in the SERPS.

For example, let's take a search for Oregon health insurance, and tell me which description tag (since they get displayed in SERPS ) you think will have a better click through rate...

A.) Oregon health insurance (that's the unique title tag)
Jones & Co. full-service insurance agency in Portland, Oregon can meet all of your insurance needs for homes or businesses. Visit our website.

B.) Oregon health insurance (that's the title tag)
Get immmediate health insurance quotes and advice for your home or business. Group rates family rates. Pre-existing conditions do not disqualify you.

So technically the ranking may not be affected much by the description tag, but the end result in click-throughs by having page specific meta descriptions can be astounding. Also, some search engines do still consider the description tag in their ranking algorithm.

I have more specific more description tag tips here.