SEO Tools
Meta description length checker.
Paste a page's HTML to count the characters in its meta description and title, see an approximate trimmed result and catch missing, empty, repeated or keyword-list descriptions.
Input
Result
Paste the page HTML, then press Check.
How the meta description length checker works
The tool reads the first <meta name="description"> and the <title>, decodes HTML entities, collapses whitespace and counts characters.
Worked example
Click Load example. The title is 76 characters and the description is "Invoice generator." (18 characters). Result: the title is flagged as long (review) and the description as too short (review). The preview shows how the title would be trimmed at about 60 characters.
The limits are rules of thumb
Google states there is no limit on how long a meta description can be; it is shortened to fit the screen, typically the device width, so the same text can show differently on phone and desktop. This tool therefore uses its own guide: 70 to 160 characters for the description and about 60 for the title. These are display heuristics, not Google rules, and the preview is an approximation by character count rather than pixel width.
Google also says it uses the meta description only when it describes the page better than the page text, so a good description is an opportunity, not a guarantee. It recommends unique descriptions per page and warns against keyword lists and very short descriptions.
Sources
- Google Search Central: control your snippets (meta description)
- Google Search Central: influence your title links
Sources reviewed October 2026.
Meta Description Length Checker FAQ
What is the best meta description length?
Google gives no number: it says there is no limit and that results are cut to fit the screen. A range of about 70 to 160 characters is a practical target and is what this tool uses.
Will Google use my meta description?
Sometimes. Google writes snippets mainly from page content and uses the description when it is a better summary than the content.
Does the title length matter?
Titles are also shortened to fit the width. The 60-character guide here is a heuristic. See the title tag checker for a width-based check.
Why does it say my description is a keyword list?
A long run of short comma-separated phrases reads as a list. Google advises against keyword lists because they do not describe the page.
Is the preview exactly what Google shows?
No. It trims by character count to illustrate; real results vary by device, query and Google's own rewriting.