SERP Snippet Preview
- 53 / ~60
- Title characters
- 143 / ~158
- Description characters
- Fits
- Title status
- Fits
- Description status
Google rewrites most descriptions
Studies consistently find Google replaces the meta description on the majority of queries, generating one from page content instead. Treat this preview as the best case, not a guarantee.
The SERP snippet preview shows approximately how a title and meta description may appear in a search result, at desktop and mobile widths. Two honest caveats come with it: truncation is by pixel width rather than character count, and Google rewrites the description on the majority of queries regardless of what you wrote.
How it works
Search results truncate on rendered width, not characters. A title of capital Ws runs out of room far sooner than one of lowercase i, so any character limit is an approximation of a pixel limit.
- Desktop titles have roughly 580 pixels, which is about 60 average characters.
- Mobile titles have roughly 460 pixels, or about 50 characters.
- Descriptions get roughly 990 pixels on desktop and 830 on mobile, about 158 and 130 characters.
- These are guides rather than rules, and the layout changes several times a year.
Front-loading matters more than fitting. The first 50 characters of a title are what a scanning reader sees, whether or not the rest is truncated.
Examples
A title that fits
Title
Percentage Calculator: Work Out Percentages Five Ways
Result
54 characters: fits on both desktop and mobile
Under the mobile limit, so nothing is cut on either. Fitting the tighter of the two is the safer target.
A description that will be cut
Description
180 characters of text
Result
Truncated with an ellipsis on both widths
Anything past about 158 characters is unlikely to be shown on desktop, and past 130 on mobile.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the character limit vary between tools?
Because there is no character limit, Google truncates on rendered pixel width. A title full of wide capitals runs out of space in fewer characters than one of narrow lowercase letters. Every character figure, including the ones here, is an average converted from a pixel measurement.
Will my meta description actually be used?
Often not. Independent studies consistently find Google generates its own description from page content on the majority of queries, particularly when the query matches text elsewhere on the page. Write a good description, but treat it as a suggestion rather than a specification.
Does the meta description affect ranking?
Not directly, Google confirmed years ago that it is not a ranking factor. It can affect click-through rate when it is used, and click-through influences how a result performs, so it matters indirectly and modestly.
Should I write different titles for mobile and desktop?
You cannot. There is one title tag. Write for the mobile limit, which is tighter, and put the distinctive words first so the title survives truncation on either.