Meta Description Length Checker
This free meta description length checker is great for verifying the SEO of content. Instantly get the letter count of any page title and meta descriptions.
Use it to instantly to get the letter count of any page title and meta descriptions you want to potentially use.
This current SEO recommendations for the character length of the meta title and description are built into the tool so you verify your content right away.
I made this online checker because I needed something like this to quickly count the metatag letters for pages I want to publish so I figured it might come in handy for other people also.
How Long Should a Meta Description and Page Title Be?
These things are largely determined by how Google uses them as they are by far the number one factor in bringing organic search traffic to your site. The short answer is a page title should be less than 60 letters and a meta description should be less than 160 characters. Think of it as the 60/160 rule of thumb and you'll never forget it. I have more detailed information below this metatag tool if you want to know more about the SEO specifics.
For SEO I also have an online word counter checking the word count of your content that you might like... if you're into that kind of thing.
What Is the Correct Length for a Title Tag?
The title tag for a web page should be no longer than 55 to 60 characters. This is the number of characters that Google will display in their search results before cutting off titles that are longer than that. If you use less than 50 characters then your full title will show up in the search results pretty much 100% of the time. If you use roughly 55-60 characters then about 90% of your titles will show up without being truncated.
Why Do Some Titles Get Cut off at 60 Characters?
It's because the space for a title is determined by pixel length not the number of letters.
Google reserves about 600 pixels space for your title. So it depends on exactly what letters are used in your title and how they affect the length. For example, visually, the five letters "iiiii" will take up less space than these five letters, "OOOOO". This is why your 60 character titles will sometimes get cut off.
Google Doesn't Care About Your Title Length
It's not necessarily that Google punishes you directly for a cut off title but a truncated title will make the page's intent unclear to some visitors who see it in the search listing and consequently they will click these links a little less. Because of responses like this, your page will show up lower down in the Google search results in the future. In other words, a longer title that getts cut-off in the Google search results is less appealing to visitors and will be clicked less often.
What is the Correct Length for a Description Metatag?
Aim for the character count of a description to be anywhere from 80 to 160 characters.
Mobile does seem to display more characters currently so some people are recommending longer titles but I would still aim for under 160 letters. I believe that making shorter descriptions that are punchier will get you more clicks from people in the long run.
Primarily, you should look less at the description as a piece of SEO information that you're trying to jam keywords into and look at it more like a compelling advertisement for your page.
Crafting the meta description copy to make it more interesting and clickable to potentials viewers should be your first goal. Do this and you'll get visitors. But the description metatag should, generally, have at least part of the words or key phrase from your title in it somewhere in order to help Google to really understand what the page is about.
Other SEO and Content Counting Tools
Here are some other free SEO content tools that you can might want to check out.
Get Ideas Using Random Words
Creative Random Words: generate random words to help you brainstorm for ideas.
Language Versions
Title and Meta Description Letter Counter is also available in German (Titel- und Beschreibungs-Buchstabenzähler), French (Compteur de lettres de titres et de descriptions) and Spanish (Contador de Letras de Título y Descripción).
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