Google Search Preview
Type your page title and meta description to see the Google result on desktop and mobile, where it gets cut off, and the tags to paste into your page.
Example
https://example.comYour page title
Google will pick a sentence from your page.
Example
https://example.comYour page title
Google will pick a sentence from your page.
Our drawing of a Google result, cut at the pixel widths Google uses today. Google can rewrite titles and descriptions, and its layout changes now and then, so treat this as a close guide.
Checklist
Add a title. Without one Google writes its own from your page.
Add a meta description. Without one Google picks a sentence from the page, which is often a menu or a cookie notice.
Tags for your page
Paste these in the <head> of the page, replacing the old title and description.
<title>Your page title</title>
<meta name="description" content="One or two sentences on what the page offers and who it is for.">Who it is for
Founders writing the page they will launch with, marketers testing titles before a campaign, and anyone fixing a page that ranks but gets few clicks. It is free, needs no account, and runs entirely in your browser.
How to use it
- Type the page title and meta description you plan to use, and the page address.
- Watch the desktop and mobile results update as you type. The counters under each field turn amber or red when the text is short or gets cut.
- Go through the checklist, then press Copy tags and paste them into the
<head>of your page. - Use Copy share link to send the preview to a teammate; the text travels in the link, the favicon does not.
How Google cuts titles and descriptions
Google does not count characters. It cuts by rendered width: on desktop a title gets about 600 pixels at 20px Arial, and a description about two lines, roughly 920 pixels at 14px Arial. On a phone the title wraps onto two lines and the description shows roughly 680 pixels. Anything past that ends in an ellipsis.
These are close approximations, not published rules. Google also rewrites titles and descriptions when it decides other text on the page fits a search better, so the result can differ from what you wrote, especially for long or generic titles.
| Part | Desktop | Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Title | ~600px, about 50 to 60 characters | Two lines, about 70 to 80 characters |
| Description | ~920px, about 150 to 160 characters | ~680px, about 115 to 120 characters |
Titles and descriptions that work for a launch page
- Lead the title with what the product does, then the name:
Invoice tracking for freelancers | PaidlybeatsPaidly | Home. - Match the words people search for. If buyers search "invoice reminders", say invoice reminders, not "cash flow orchestration".
- Use the description to answer three things: what it is, who it is for, and what happens when they click (free trial, demo, pricing).
- Give every page its own title and description. Duplicates make Google pick its own text.
- Include a number or a concrete detail where you have one: a price, a time saved, a count of integrations.
Common mistakes
- The brand name first on every page, which pushes the useful words past the cut.
- No meta description at all, so Google quotes a menu, a cookie banner or a footer.
- A description stuffed with keywords. It reads badly and Google tends to replace it.
- Titles set by JavaScript after load. Google usually sees them, but other search engines and social platforms often do not.
- Changing the title and expecting the result to update the same day. Google has to crawl the page again first.
Questions
Is this Google search preview free?
Yes. There is no account, no limit, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
How long should a title tag be?
Google cuts desktop titles at about 600 pixels, which is usually 50 to 60 characters. Wide letters like W and M use more room than i and l, so this tool measures pixels, not characters.
How long should a meta description be?
About 150 to 160 characters shows in full on desktop and about 120 on mobile. Put the point of the page in the first 120 characters so it survives on both.
Why does Google show a different title or description from mine?
Google rewrites titles and descriptions when it thinks other text on the page matches the search better. A specific title that matches the page heading, and a description that answers what the page offers, get rewritten less often.
How long until Google shows my new title?
Google has to crawl the page again first, which can take days to weeks. Requesting indexing for the page in Google Search Console usually speeds it up.
Does the meta description help rankings?
Not directly. It changes how many people click your result, which is why it is worth writing well.
How do I check the card on social media too?
Use the Link Preview Checker for the card on X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Slack and WhatsApp.