Title and meta description checker

Two things about the two lines Google shows for a page: whether they fit, and whether they say something. The title is measured in characters and in pixels, because Google cuts by width, not by count: about 600 pixels on a desktop in the font it uses, which is usually sixty characters and fewer when the letters are wide. The description is measured the same way, at about 920 pixels, and a phone shows less of both. Two previews, a desktop and a phone, show the cut as it happens while you type.

Paste a page and the tool reads what is live: the title tag, the meta description, the h1 headings, the canonical, the robots meta tag and the X-Robots-Tag header, the og:site_name, the word count. Then it says what it sees: a title that starts with the site name and a separator, a name that appears twice, a description that repeats the title or opens with it, a page with no h1 or with several, a title and an h1 that name different subjects, a title that is a placeholder, and a page that carries noindex or a canonical pointing elsewhere, which makes the snippet moot.

A page that Google shows two thousand times a month and nine people click is not a page problem. Google has already decided it deserves the position; the searcher decided it does not deserve the click, and the searcher only saw these two lines. On a small site, the pages shown most and clicked least are the cheapest work there is: one line rewritten, no code, and the figures move within weeks.

The title is the line. It is what the eye reads on the results page, what the browser tab shows, what a link on another site often carries. The description is the second read, and Google rewrites it more often than not, but a description that answers the query as written is the one Google keeps.

• Characters and pixels under each field, red when the line is likely cut. The pixel figure is the one that decides; the character count is the habit.
• The two previews show the cut on a desktop and on a phone. A title that fits on one and not the other is cut for the half of searchers on that device.
• The list of things to change names each finding in a sentence: the brand first, the repeated name, the description that echoes the title, the missing or doubled h1, the title and h1 that disagree.
• h1, canonical, indexable, robots are read from the page. Indexable says whether Google may index this address, and the reason: a noindex tag, a header, or a canonical that hands the page to another URL.
• Fits with nothing listed means the two lines are in order. Whether they win the click is a question of words, and the free check below reads the queries the page is shown for.

1. 1

   Lead with the words people type

   Open the page's report in Search Console, read the queries it is shown for, and start the title with the one that carries the most impressions, as written. "Invoice template for freelancers" beats "The smarter way to invoice".

2. 2

   Promise the specific thing

   After the query, say what this page gives: a template, a comparison, a calculator, a guide with steps. A title that only names the topic loses to the result that names the outcome.

3. 3

   Write the description as the snippet

   One sentence, a hundred and twenty to a hundred and fifty-five characters, that answers the query and says what is on the page. Not a summary of the company; a reason to click this result rather than the one above it.

4. 4

   Match the intent the query shows

   A query that asks for a tool wants a title that says tool; a query that asks how wants a guide. A tool page titled like a blog post gets skipped by the people who wanted the tool.

5. 5

   Check again in a month

   Search Console shows clicks and impressions by page. A rewritten title shows its effect within a few weeks; if the rate did not move, the position, not the title, is the problem.

It does not tell you whether Google will use your description. Google rewrites descriptions when it judges another passage of the page answers the query better, and it rewrites titles on occasion too. Writing both well is the way to keep them, not a guarantee.

It does not know your queries. The fit is measured; the words are yours. The free check below reads the queries your pages are shown for, which is where the words come from.