Title and meta description checker

Why length matters

Google cuts off titles and descriptions that are too long, usually with an ellipsis. Around 50 to 60 characters for a title and 120 to 160 for a description is a sensible target. Google measures in pixels rather than characters, so treat these as guides, not hard limits.

Writing a title that works

Put the main thing the page is about near the start. Add your town if you serve a local area. Leave the brand name to the end, or drop it if space is tight. Each page should have its own title.

Writing a description people click

Say what the page offers and why someone should pick you: a price, a guarantee you can actually keep, opening hours, an area you cover. Google often rewrites descriptions, but a good one still gets used more often than a vague one.

How to use it

1. Copy the title of your page into the first box. In most website builders it’s in the SEO or search settings for that page.
2. Copy the meta description into the second box.
3. Press the check button and read the counts and notes.
4. Edit the wording in the boxes until the notes are clear, then copy it back into your site.

What it checks

It counts the characters in your title and description. It flags a title under 30 characters as possibly too short and one over 60 as likely to be cut off. It flags a description under 70 characters as thin and one over 160 as likely to be cut off. If either box is empty, it tells you.

It doesn’t check whether the wording is any good, or whether another page on your site uses the same title. Those are worth checking by eye.

One title per page

Check a handful of your main pages together. If several share the same title, Google has a harder time telling them apart and searchers do too.

Next step

Titles and descriptions are quick to change, so they’re a good first job on any site.

On the £99 plan we flag missing, duplicate and over-long titles across your whole site and rewrite them in each month’s batch.

A worked example

Say you run a dog grooming salon in Bath. A title of “Home” tells Google and searchers nothing. “Dog Grooming in Bath | Paws & Co” is 34 characters and says what you do and where. For the description, “Full grooms, nail clips and puppy introductions in central Bath. Open Saturdays. Book online or call us.” is about 100 characters, specific and useful.

Run both through the checker. If the title came out at 70 characters, the brand name at the end is the first thing to cut.

Related reading

Our title tag examples and meta descriptions guide go into more detail.

Other free tools