Google cuts long titles and descriptions by width, not by character count, so a title of wide capitals is cut sooner than one of narrow letters. Aim for titles under about 600 pixels (roughly 50 to 60 characters) and descriptions under about 920 pixels on desktop. Type yours below to see the cut in pixels.
| Line | Font measured | Desktop | Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Arial 20px | About 600 px, one line | Wraps to more lines |
| Description | Arial 14px | About 920 px, two lines | About 680 px |
Updated
Measure a title and description the way a result is drawn, see the desktop and mobile versions side by side with your keyword in bold, and paste a whole list of pages to find the ones that will be cut.
Arial at 20 pixels draws a capital W about three times as wide as a lowercase i. A 60-character title in all capitals can be cut well before one in sentence case. Counting characters hides that difference; measuring pixels shows it.
This tool measures with a canvas in your browser using Arial, the font Google results use on most systems. If your device lacks Arial, the browser substitutes a similar sans-serif and the widths shift slightly.
The title link usually comes from the page's title element, but Google may also draw on the main heading, prominent text or the text of links pointing to the page. The snippet usually comes from page content that matches the search, with the meta description used when it describes the page well.
So the best way to keep your own wording is simply to write an accurate, specific title and description for each page and to keep them in line with what the page says.
Google has no fixed limit and cuts snippets to fit the device. In practice, about 150 to 160 characters (around 920 pixels) shows in full on desktop for most text, and mobile shows less. Write the key point in the first 120 characters so it survives either way.
Keep it under about 600 pixels, which is usually 50 to 60 characters. Longer titles are not penalised, but the end is replaced by an ellipsis, so whatever comes last may never be read.
Google rewrites title links and snippets when it thinks other text on the page describes the result better for that search. It happens more with titles that are very long, stuffed with keywords, the same across many pages, or out of step with the page's main heading.
No preview can be exact, because Google changes its layout, adjusts widths by device and sometimes adds dates, ratings or site links. The pixel measurement is a good guide to where text will be cut, which is what matters when you are writing.
Related: Meta tag generator, Meta tag checker, Canonical tag checker, Open Graph preview, Website title examples.
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