SERP preview tool
See how your title and meta description may look in Google on desktop and mobile. Widths are measured in pixels, the way Google cuts them, and you can load the tags from any live page.
- Pixel widths measured in Arial
- Desktop and mobile, light and dark
- Load title and description from a URL
- Site—Name and favicon
- URL—Shown as a breadcrumb
- Title link—20 px Arial
- Description—14 px Arial
Search result preview
Preview
An approximation of a Google result. Not affiliated with Google.
Google may rewrite titles and descriptions, and its layout changes over time.
Result options
Shown in the preview only.
Measurements
Pixel widths against common budgets.
HTML tags
For the head of your page, or your SEO plugin's fields.
Fair-use limit for Load from page: 60 per hour and 300 per day for each visitor IP address. Typing and previewing have no limit.
What a search result is made of
Four parts of a Google result come from your page. You control two of them directly; Google decides how much of each to show.
Title link
Usually your title element. Google may use a heading, og:title or link text instead when it finds the title unhelpful.
Snippet
Often your meta description, often text from the page that matches the search better. Google bolds words from the query.
Site name and favicon
Taken from the home page: WebSite structured data, og:site_name, the title and the icon link.
Width, not characters
Text is cut when it runs out of room, so a title of narrow letters fits more characters than one of capitals.
How much room each part gets
Common working budgets. Google publishes no fixed numbers, so treat these as estimates.
| Part | Desktop | Mobile | In characters |
|---|---|---|---|
Title link |
600 px at 20 px Arial, one line | Up to two lines | About 50–60 characters |
Description |
About 920 px, two lines | About 680 px | About 150–160 characters |
Site name and URL |
One line each | One line each | Long paths are shortened with … |
Date |
Before the description | Before the description | Takes about 12 characters of description space |
How to use this tool
From a draft title to tags that fit.
Type or load
Type a title and description, or enter a URL and load them from the live page.
Watch the meters
Each line shows its pixel width against the budget for desktop and for mobile.
Switch the view
Check desktop and mobile, light and dark, with a search query and a date.
Copy the tags
Copy the finished title and meta description tags into your page or SEO plugin.
What this tool does, and what it doesn't
A plain list, so you know exactly what to expect.
This tool does
- Measure titles and descriptions in pixels
- Preview desktop and mobile results
- Load the tags from a live page
- Show favicon, site name and URL path
- Bold your search terms like Google
- Give you ready-to-copy HTML tags
This tool does not
- Show what Google will really display
- Predict title or snippet rewrites
- Show stars, prices or sitelinks
- Change anything on your website
- Improve rankings by itself
- Store what you type
Where your data goes
What you type stays in your browser. Load from page sends the URL to our server, which fetches that page and returns its tags; the result is kept for 10 minutes. A favicon URL is loaded by your browser from that site. Fair-use counters use a hashed IP address, as described in our privacy policy.
Why your results might look unexpected
The six situations people run into most, and what each one means.
Cut off below 60 characters
Wide letters such as W, M and capitals fill the width fast. Use sentence case.
Google shows another title
Google rewrites titles that are too long, stuffed with keywords or unlike the page.
A different description
Google often builds the snippet from page text that matches the search better.
The wrong site name
Add WebSite structured data with a name on the home page, then wait for a recrawl.
The favicon does not show
Use a square icon of at least 48 by 48 pixels, linked from the home page.
Load from page shows no title
The page sets it with JavaScript, or blocks our server. Type it in instead.
Questions about search previews
How long should a title and meta description be?
Google sets no fixed limit. It says it truncates title links and snippets "as needed, typically to fit the device width". In practice, titles up to about 600 pixels, roughly 50 to 60 characters, show in full on desktop, and descriptions of about 150 to 160 characters usually fit. Put the words that matter most at the start, so a cut-off costs you nothing important.
Why measure pixels instead of characters?
Google cuts text by the space it takes, and letters have different widths: "W" is about four times as wide as "i" in Arial. Two 60-character titles can differ by 100 pixels or more. The tool measures each title and description in Arial, the font Google has long used for desktop results, so the warning appears where the text really runs out of room.
Will my result look exactly like this in Google?
Not always. Google often rewrites titles and descriptions, using headings, anchor text or page text it finds more relevant to the search. It changes fonts and layouts, and adds features such as images, ratings or sitelinks for some results. The preview shows how your own title and description fit, which is the part you control.
Why does Google show a different site name or favicon?
Google picks the site name from the home page, using WebSite structured data, the og:site_name tag, the title and headings. The favicon comes from the icon link on the home page and must be at least 8 by 8 pixels, and preferably 48 by 48 or larger. Changes can take weeks to appear after Google crawls the home page again.
What does Load from page do?
It fetches the page you enter from our server and fills in its title, meta description, site name and favicon, so you can see the snippet as it is now. It also tells you if the page has a noindex robots tag or a canonical tag that points elsewhere. Only public pages can be loaded, and the result is kept for 10 minutes.
Why are some words in the description bold?
Google often bolds words in the snippet that match the search. Type a search query in the options to see which words would stand out. It is a preview of emphasis, not a ranking signal.
Is what I type sent to your server?
No. The preview and the measurements run in your browser. Only Load from page sends the URL you enter to our server, which fetches that page; fair-use counters use a hashed version of your IP address, as described in our privacy policy. A favicon URL you enter is loaded by your own browser from that site.