diff --git a/_config.yml b/_config.yml
index 85147cae591e205b6879ab2ec87502912ef89b89..4c614fd79158cba2a43a81d44547e41a13e598ee 100644
--- a/_config.yml
+++ b/_config.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ email: gitlab-help@lists.uni-giessen.de
 description:
   en: Information and help for the GitLab pilot service of the Justus Liebig University Giessen <a href="https://gitlab.test.uni-giessen.de">gitlab.test.uni-giessen.de</a>
   de: Informationen und Hilfe zum GitLab Pilotbetrieb der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen <a href="https://gitlab.test.uni-giessen.de">gitlab.test.uni-giessen.de</a>
+metadescription:
+  en: Information and help for the GitLab pilot service of the Justus Liebig University Giessen
+  de: Informationen und Hilfe zum GitLab Pilotbetrieb der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
 index:
   en: index.html
   de: de_index.html
diff --git a/_includes/head.html b/_includes/head.html
index 6cbf6b4a9c099441298f10706cb6879a8f6d8ef4..c9d38c5a5840bd055e76eb0590fdc15b6ccd04b7 100644
--- a/_includes/head.html
+++ b/_includes/head.html
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
   <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
   <title>{% if page.title %}{{ page.title | escape }}{% else %}{{ site.title[page.lang] | escape }}{% endif %}</title>
-  <meta name="description" content="{% if page.excerpt %}{{ page.excerpt | strip_html | strip_newlines | truncate: 160 }}{% else %}{{ site.description[page.lang] }}{% endif %}">
+  <meta name="description" content="{% if page.excerpt %}{{ page.excerpt | strip_html | strip_newlines | truncate: 160 }}{% else %}{{ site.metadescription[page.lang] }}{% endif %}">
 
   <link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ "/css/main.css" | prepend: site.baseurl }}">
   <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="{{ "/favicon.png" | prepend: site.baseurl }}">