The short answer
Write a unique title of about 50 to 60 characters and a description of about 120 to 155 characters for every page. Put the main idea first, describe what the visitor gets, and write for people rather than for keywords.
What are titles and meta descriptions?
The title tag is the blue headline in a search result. The meta description is the short summary under it. Neither appears on the page itself. Search engines read them and often show them to searchers.
How long should they be?
Search results have limited space. Aim for roughly 50 to 60 characters for titles and 120 to 155 characters for descriptions. Longer text may be cut off, and on phones the description is often shorter. These are guides, not hard limits. Count yours with the Word and Character Counter or the length meters in the Meta Tag Generator.
Writing a good title
- Start with the most important words.
- Describe the page honestly. Do not promise what it does not deliver.
- Add your brand at the end, if there is room.
- Make each title different from every other page.
Writing a good description
- Say what the page is and why it is useful, in plain words.
- Include a reason to click, such as a benefit or a next step.
- Use natural language. Repeating keywords makes it read badly.
- Write a different one for every page.
Check what you have now
Paste any page address into the Meta Tag Checker to see its title, description, canonical and share tags, and what to improve.
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Meta Tag Generator
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Meta Tag Checker
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Word and Character Counter
Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs, with reading time and length limits.
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Frequently asked questions
Do meta descriptions help rankings?
Search engines say they are not a direct ranking factor. A good one can still raise the number of people who click your result.
Should I include my keyword?
Yes, naturally. Words that match the search are shown in bold in results, which helps people spot a match. Do not repeat them to the point it reads badly.
What if I leave the description out?
Search engines will pick text from the page instead. That can work, but a written description gives you control.