The meta title and meta description are two of the most-read lines you'll ever write: they're what people see in search results before deciding to click. Getting the length right keeps your message intact.
Meta title length
Aim for roughly 50–60 characters, or under about 580 pixels wide. Search engines truncate titles by width, not characters, so:
- Titles with many wide letters (W, M) hit the limit sooner.
- Titles with narrow letters (i, l, t) fit more characters.
Very short titles (under about 30 characters) waste space you could use to be more specific.
Meta description length
A good target is around 70 to 155 characters. Longer descriptions are often cut off, particularly on mobile. Shorter ones aren't a problem if they say enough to convince someone to click — but very short descriptions usually leave useful space unused.
What to include
- In the title: your main topic or keyword, ideally near the start, and something that makes it worth clicking.
- In the description: a clear summary of what the page offers, a benefit, and a reason to click — written naturally, not stuffed with keywords.
Include your target keyword in both if it fits naturally. Search engines often bold matching words in the description, which draws the eye.
Check your lengths
The Meta Title & Description Checker measures your title in both characters and pixels, and your description in characters. Colour-coded meters show whether each is too short, a good length or too long, and an optional target keyword field checks that it appears in both.
Common mistakes
- Writing a title that runs long so the final, important words are cut off.
- Repeating the same title on several pages.
- Keyword stuffing — "Buy cheap widgets, best widgets, widgets online". It reads badly and doesn't help.
- Leaving the description blank, so the search engine picks random text from the page.
- Writing a description that just repeats the title.
These numbers are estimates
Google doesn't publish exact limits, and they change. Treat the figures as sensible targets, and use the SERP Snippet Preview to see how a result might look. Google may still rewrite what it shows.
FAQ
Is there a character limit for meta titles? There's no strict character rule — the cut-off is by pixel width, which usually equals about 50–60 characters.
Do meta descriptions help SEO? Indirectly. They don't change your ranking directly, but they influence whether people click.
Should every page have a unique description? Yes. Unique titles and descriptions help both search engines and people tell your pages apart.
Try it now
Paste your text into the free Meta Title & Description Checker.
Related reading
Read How to Preview Your Google Search Result Before You Publish and Character Count vs. Word Count. Browse the full blog for more guides.