What it does
Google doesn't cut titles at a set number of characters. It cuts them when they run out of room, measured in pixels. A title full of capital letters gets trimmed far sooner than a lowercase one of the same length.
This preview measures your title and description in the same font Google uses on desktop, Arial, and shows where the ellipsis would land. The title gets about 600 px. The description gets about two lines, 920 px. You can load the current title and description from a live page, or type and edit freely.
How to use it
- 1Optional: type a page address into Load from a page and press Load title and description to pull in what's live now.
- 2Edit the Title, Meta description and URL fields. The preview updates as you type.
- 3Read the two checks under the preview. The title line shows its width out of 600 px, and both lines tell you if Google would cut the text.
- 4Trim until neither is cut, keeping the most useful words at the start.
Write for the person scanning results
People skim a results page in a few seconds. Your title has to say what the page is, and your description has to say why it's the right one to open. Lead with the topic, then the detail that sets your page apart, such as a price, a year, or who it's for.
- Put the main words in the first half of the title.
- Put your brand at the end, if at all. Google often adds the site name on its own.
- Write the description as a sentence, not a list of keywords.
- Avoid all-caps. It's wide, so it gets cut early, and it reads as shouting.
Why the real result may look different
This preview is the best case. Google rewrites titles and descriptions when it thinks other text on the page fits the search better, and it often pulls a description from the page text that matches the query. Mobile results also wrap differently from desktop.
A title that matches your H1 and a description that honestly sums up the page are less likely to be replaced.
Questions
How many characters does Google show in a title?
There's no fixed number. Google fits titles to about 600 px on desktop, which works out to roughly 50 to 60 characters of normal English text. Wide letters use the space faster.
Why does Google show a different description from mine?
Google often writes its own snippet from your page text when that matches the search better. A clear, accurate meta description is still used for many searches.
Does this preview show mobile results?
No. It uses desktop widths. Mobile results use a different layout and may show more or less text.
Can I preview a page that isn't live yet?
Yes. Skip the URL loader and type your title, description and URL by hand.