1. Write your snippet
2. Google preview
Google may rewrite titles and descriptions, and the exact cut-off depends on the device and the letters used. Pixel widths are measured in Arial at the sizes Google uses, so treat them as a close estimate.
3. HTML tags
Why titles and descriptions matter
The title tag is the blue headline of your result in Google and the text shown in the browser tab. It is one of the clearest signals of what a page is about, and it decides whether people click. The meta description is the short text under it. It does not directly change rankings, but a clear, specific description gets more clicks than a random sentence Google pulls from the page.
How long should they be?
Google does not cut by characters but by pixel width: roughly 580–600 px for titles on desktop, and about 920 px (two lines) for descriptions on desktop, less on mobile. That is why “W” counts for more than “i”. In practice:
- Title: about 50–60 characters. Put the main topic first and the brand name last.
- Description: about 120–155 characters – one or two sentences that say what the page offers and why it is worth clicking.
Writing tips
- Write a unique title and description for every page. Duplicates make it hard for Google and users to tell pages apart.
- Use the words people search for, naturally. Repeating a keyword three times looks spammy and does not help.
- Be specific: numbers, formats and benefits (“free”, “no sign-up”, “with examples”) help people choose your result.
- Match the page. If the title promises something the page doesn’t deliver, visitors leave and Google is more likely to rewrite your title.
Adding the tags in WordPress
With an SEO plugin such as Rank Math or Yoast, paste the title and description into the plugin’s fields under the editor instead of adding HTML by hand. On a static site, place the two tags inside the <head> of the page. Changes appear in Google after the page is crawled again, which can take days to weeks.
Related: Open Graph & Twitter Card Generator · URL Slug Generator · Keyword Clustering
