Free title tag and meta description checker with Google preview

How to use it

1. Type or paste your page title and meta description. The preview updates as you type.
2. Add the page address, and your site name if you want the top line to match what Google shows.
3. Optionally add the focus keyword people search for. We check it appears and bold it in the preview, as Google often does.
4. Read the checks, adjust the wording, then press Copy HTML tags to paste the finished tags into your page or SEO plugin.

How Google shows your title tag and meta description

A Google result has a few parts: your site name and icon, the page address, a blue title link, and a short snippet of text underneath. The title link usually comes from the page's <title> tag, and the snippet sometimes comes from the meta description. Together they are often the first thing a person reads about your business, before they decide whether to click.

Google treats both as suggestions. Its title link guide explains that it may use other text from the page instead of your title, and its snippet guide says snippets come mainly from the page content, with the meta description used when it describes the page better. A clear, accurate title and description make it more likely that Google shows your words. The SERP preview above (SERP is short for search engine results page) shows roughly how they will look before you publish.

How long should a title tag and meta description be?

Google sets no character limit. It says there is no limit on how long a title or description can be, and that it shortens them as needed to fit the device width. That is why a character count alone can mislead you: a title full of wide letters such as W and M takes more room than one with i and l, so two titles of the same length can be cut at different points.

This checker measures your text in pixels instead. It draws the title in Arial at about 20px and the description at about 14px, close to the sizes Google uses on desktop. As rough guides, titles start to be cut at about 600px, and descriptions at about 920px on desktop and 680px on mobile. These figures are estimates that the SEO industry has worked out from watching results, not numbers Google publishes, and Google changes its layout from time to time. Treat a warning as a reason to put the important words first, not as a hard rule.

How to write titles and meta descriptions that get clicks

Start the title with what the page offers, in the words your customers would type. For a local business that often means the service and the area: "Aircon Servicing in Tampines and Bedok" says more than "Welcome to Our Website". Add your brand at the end after a separator such as a pipe or hyphen. Google's guide suggests this short form of branding for pages other than the home page. Give every page its own title, because near-identical titles make results hard to tell apart.

Use the meta description to answer the questions a searcher has before they click. Say who the page is for and what happens after they click. Specific details work better than general claims, such as the areas you cover or that bookings can be made online. Google advises against descriptions that are a list of keywords, and against using the same description on every page.

Write for a person scanning a page of results on a phone. If the first few words of the title and description make sense on their own, the result still works when Google cuts the rest.

Title tag and meta description examples for Singapore businesses

These businesses are made up, to show the difference a specific title and description can make.

A tuition centre. Weaker title: Home | Hollowfern. Better: PSLE Maths and Science Tuition in Bishan | Hollowfern Learning. Description: Small-group PSLE Maths and Science classes in Bishan for Primary 5 and 6. Weekday and Saturday slots. Book a free trial lesson online.

A physiotherapy clinic. Weaker title: Physiotherapy Singapore Physio Clinic Best Physio. Better: Sports Physiotherapy near Novena MRT | Larkspur Physio. Description: Treatment for running, gym and office injuries, a short walk from Novena MRT. Evening appointments on weekdays. Book online or WhatsApp us.

A home bakery. Weaker title: CAKES!!! ORDER NOW. Better: Custom Birthday Cakes with Island-wide Delivery | Kettle & Crumb. Description: Order a custom birthday cake online and choose your delivery date. Eggless options available. Message us your theme for a quote.

Paste any of them into the checker above to see how they fit, then try your own pages.

How Google picks title links

According to Google's title link documentation, Google mostly uses the <title> tag, but it also looks at the main visible heading on the page, other headings, the og:title tag, other large or prominent text, anchor text on the page and in links pointing to it, and WebSite structured data. It is more likely to replace your title when the title is half-empty, out of date, does not match the page, repeats the same wording across many pages, or is in a different language from the content. If the site name already appears in the result, Google may drop it from the title link.

The simplest way to keep control is to make the title and the main heading (usually the <h1>) agree, describe what is actually on the page, and keep each page's title different. If Google is showing a different title for one of your pages, check whether one of these reasons applies before changing the wording again.