SERP Preview Tool: Title, Meta Description and H1 Checker

Google cuts titles by pixels, not characters

Google does not count characters when it shortens a title. It measures how wide the text is. On desktop a title is set in 20 px Arial and gets cut at roughly 600 pixels, then Google adds an ellipsis. Wide letters like W and M use more of that space than narrow ones like i and l, so a 55-character title in capitals can be cut while a 65-character title in lowercase fits. That is why this tool measures pixels and marks the exact point.

Ideal title tag length

Aim for 50 to 60 characters, and check the pixel width when the title is close to the limit. Put the main search phrase near the start so it survives truncation. If you add the brand name, add it once, at the end. A title that is cut is not a ranking problem by itself, but the part people do not see cannot persuade them to click.

Ideal meta description length

Google shows about 155 to 160 characters of a description on desktop, around 920 pixels across two lines, and less on mobile. Write 120 to 155 characters and put the reason to click in the first 120. Google rewrites descriptions often, especially when yours does not match the search. A description that answers the query directly is the one most likely to be kept.

H1 versus title tag

The title tag is what Google shows in results and browser tabs. The H1 is the main heading people see on the page. They can be the same, and often are. Using a slightly different H1 lets the page cover a second phrasing of the search, for example a title of "SERP Preview Tool & Meta Description Checker" and an H1 that leads with the checker. One clear H1 per page keeps the structure obvious to readers and to Google.

Why Google shows a different title than the one you wrote

Since 2021 Google rewrites a share of titles. The usual reasons are a title that is too long, stuffed with keywords, the same across many pages, or a poor match for the H1 and the page content. When the checker flags a cut title or a repeated word, those are the same signals that make a rewrite more likely. Keeping the title close to your H1 reduces the chance that Google replaces it.

What the URL check reads

When you check a URL, the tool fetches the page the way a crawler does and reads the title tag, the meta description, every H1, the canonical tag and the robots meta tag. It follows up to five redirects. It does not run JavaScript, so a site that only builds its tags in the browser will show what Google sees on its first pass. If a site blocks automated visits, switch to Paste text.