The title
- Lead with the words people search for.
- One title per page: two pages with the same title compete with each other.
- Put the brand at the end, after a separator, if at all.
- Match the page's main heading closely enough that Google keeps it.
Characters · pixels · Google preview
Title and meta description checker
See whether Google will cut your title and description off. Type them, or read them from a page, and the preview shows the result on desktop and mobile as you edit.
Desktop
example.com
https://example.com
Handmade leather boots | Your Shop
What the page offers and why to click, in one or two sentences.
Mobile
example.com
https://example.com
Handmade leather boots | Your Shop
What the page offers and why to click, in one or two sentences.
An approximation: Google does not publish its limits, and it may show a different text for some searches.
Google cuts by pixels, not characters
The results page has a fixed width, so what matters is how wide the text is when drawn. Two titles of the same length can end in very different places:
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW20 characters
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii20 characters
That is why a limit such as "60 characters" is only a rule of thumb. It works for ordinary words, and fails for titles in capitals, with long numbers or in languages with wide letters.
Writing ones that get the click
The description
- Say what the page offers and why it is the one to open.
- Put that in the first half, which survives even on a phone.
- Write it for the page, not a template shared by a thousand pages.
- Write " for a double quote inside it: a bare one ends the attribute, and the description with it.
The full checks behind this page: title present, title length, description present, description length. Or grade the whole page.
Questions about titles and descriptions
How long should a title tag be?
Keep it under about 600 pixels, which is 50 to 60 characters for most titles. Google measures the width, not the characters, so a title full of wide letters such as W and M is cut sooner than one with narrow letters. Our reports pass 30 to 60 characters.
How long should a meta description be?
Around 120 to 160 characters. On a desktop results page Google shows about 920 pixels of it across two lines, and on a phone less. Put the reason to click in the first half so it survives the cut.
Why does Google show a different title or description?
Google rewrites both when it thinks another text answers the search better: a title that is too long, stuffed with keywords or the same on many pages is often replaced by the page's main heading or other text on it, and the description by a passage from the page that matches the query. A clear, specific text for each page is the best way to keep yours.
Does the length affect rankings?
Not directly. Google reads the whole title even when it shows only part of it, but a searcher sees only the part that fits, so the length decides what they read before they click.
Are the pixel limits exact?
No. Google does not publish them; 600 pixels for a title and 920 for a description are what fits on the results page, measured in Arial at the sizes Google has long used. Treat them as a guide and leave a little room.