Validate your title tag and meta description by character count AND pixel width — the metric Google actually uses to truncate snippets. Includes a SERP preview.
Built and maintained by Paul Clark, Redmoon Software
Use the SEO meta length checker on every page before publishing. Both title and description should fit the SERP layout cleanly — too short wastes space, too long gets truncated with an ellipsis.
Character-only counters miss the truncation rule (Google uses pixel width). This tool combines both metrics so you can defend either to a stakeholder.
Google truncates titles and descriptions by pixel width, not character count. Arial-ish fonts mean E and i are narrow, M and W are wide.
This tool combines character count with a pixel-width estimate calibrated to Google's snippet font, and shows a SERP mockup so you can preview the truncation.
Mobile and desktop use different widths; toggle the device selector to see both.
Google rewrites titles based on the search query and what it thinks the user wants. Your tag is a strong suggestion, not a guarantee.
Pixels. Google truncates by visible width, so a description full of "iiiii" can fit more characters than one full of "WWWWW".
Mobile is narrower. Titles: ~520px mobile, ~580px desktop. Descriptions: ~860px mobile, ~960px desktop. Test both.
Input
Title: "Free Online Readability Calculator — Redmoon" (47 chars / 458px)
Output
Title: good · Description: short (90 chars / 545px)
Google truncates by pixel width, not character count. 580px is roughly 60 characters in Arial. The status uses the device width to flag short / good / long.
Search results truncate on rendered width, not character count, which is why "60 characters" is only ever a rule of thumb. Proportional type means a title of Ws and Ms is far wider than the same count of ls and is, and the one truncates while the other does not.
The practical target is roughly 580 pixels for a title and about 920 for a description on desktop, with mobile narrower. Counting characters gets you close; measuring width is what actually predicts the ellipsis.
Search engines frequently rewrite both. Descriptions are the more volatile: a snippet is often assembled from whatever passage matches the query rather than from the tag, which means a description is an input to the decision rather than a guarantee of output. Titles are rewritten less often but still routinely, particularly when the tag is stuffed or repeats the site name.
That is a reason to write them well, not a reason to ignore them. A description that reads as a genuine summary of the page is more likely to survive intact, and it does double duty on social platforms and internal search where no rewriting happens.
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