Free tool
SERP preview
See where Google cuts your title and description, measured in pixels rather than characters, because that is how Google measures them. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
How it will look
Why pixels and not characters
Every rule of thumb about 60 characters is wrong in both directions, because Google cuts on how wide the text renders rather than on how many letters it contains. A title made of wide letters runs out of room early; one made of narrow letters goes further than the rule allows. The difference is easily ten characters either way, which is a whole clause.
The practical answer is the same whichever way you measure: put the thing you want read at the front. A truncated title still works if the first four words carry it, and a perfectly sized one fails if the point is at the end.
What to do with what you see
- If the title truncates, cut from the end rather than the front. The brand name at the end is usually the first thing that can go.
- If two pages have the same title, fix that before fixing the length. Duplicates are the reason Google rewrites a title most often.
- Write the description as the sentence you would say to somebody deciding whether to click, not as a list of keywords. It does not affect ranking and it does affect the click.
- Check the mobile view. It is where most local searches happen and it cuts differently.
More free things
Questions about titles and descriptions
How long should a title tag be?
Google renders roughly 600 pixels of title on desktop and about 920 on mobile, not a number of characters. That works out around 55 to 60 characters of ordinary text, but a title full of wide letters truncates sooner and one full of narrow letters goes further. Measuring the width is the only reliable answer, which is what this does.
How long should a meta description be?
About 920 pixels on desktop, which is roughly 155 to 160 characters, and less on mobile. Going over does not harm rankings; it means the end of your sentence is replaced with an ellipsis, so put the point first either way.
Does the meta description affect rankings?
No. It affects whether somebody clicks, which affects everything downstream. Google also rewrites descriptions often, usually when the page contains a better answer to the specific query than the description does.
Why does Google show something different from what I wrote?
Google rewrites titles and descriptions when it judges something on the page fits the query better, when the title is stuffed with keywords, or when it is duplicated across the site. A clear, specific, unique title is rewritten least often.
Is anything I type here sent anywhere?
No. Everything happens in your browser. There is no form submission, no analytics event and no network request of any kind, which you can confirm in your browser’s network tab.
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