Meta Title & Description Length Checker
Measure title tags and meta descriptions in pixels — the unit Google actually truncates on — and see where the cut lands.
Title tag
Missing- Characters
- 0/60
- Pixel width
- 0/580px
No title to measure yet. Add one to see how it renders.
Meta description
Missing- Characters
- 0/160
- Pixel width
- 0/990px
No meta description to measure yet. Add one to see how it renders.
SERP preview
Your title tag will appear here
Cut at the measured pixel width, the way Google truncates a desktop result.
How to use it
- Type or paste a title and description and the measurements update as you write — there is nothing to submit.
- Already published? Switch to Fetch from URL and the live tags are pulled in for you to edit.
- Check the SERP preview last. The desktop view cuts at the measured pixel width, which is the closest thing to seeing the result before it exists.
Writing snippets that survive the cut
- Google truncates on pixel width, not character count. A title of capitals and wide letters runs out of room well before 60 characters; one full of i, l and t can pass 65 and still fit.
- Front-load the term you want to rank for. If the tail gets cut, the part that was doing the work is still visible.
- Aim for 120–160 characters in a description. Shorter than that and you are leaving space on the table; longer and the end is decoration.
- Give the description a reason to click — a specific number, a date, an outcome. It is ad copy, not a summary.
- Google rewrites descriptions on roughly two thirds of queries, and it still pays to write one. When it does use yours, it is because yours matched the query better than anything it could pull from the page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ideal meta title length?
Around 50–60 characters, but the real limit is width: Google gives a desktop title roughly 580 pixels at 20px Arial before it cuts. That is why this tool measures pixels. Stay under the pixel budget and your title shows in full; write in capitals or wide characters and you can breach 580px at 52 characters.
What is the ideal meta description length?
Between 120 and 160 characters. Descriptions are the one case where the character count really is the limit: the two-line desktop snippet has more width than a description ever fills, so what cuts you off is Google's own ceiling at roughly 160 characters rather than the edge of the column. Below 120 you are giving up space that could earn the click. Mobile shows fewer characters again, so put the important half first.
Does Google always use my meta description?
No. Google rewrites descriptions frequently — studies put it around 60–70% of queries — usually by pulling a passage from the page that matches the search more closely than your tag does. Writing a good one still matters: it is what gets used on the queries you actually targeted, and it is the version shown when your page is shared or scraped.
Does meta description length affect SEO rankings?
Not directly. Meta descriptions have not been a ranking factor for over a decade, and length is not scored at all. What it affects is click-through rate, and a snippet that ends mid-sentence reads as careless. Titles are different: the title tag is a genuine ranking signal, so a truncated title costs you both clicks and relevance.
Is the pixel measurement exact?
It is close. The widths come from Arial's own font metrics, the metric-compatible font behind Google's desktop snippet, so measurements land within a few pixels of a real browser. Google also adjusts snippets by query, device and even the searcher, so treat the pixel budget as a reliable ceiling rather than a guarantee.