Writing title tags and meta descriptions that fit in search results

8 min read · Updated 4 October 2026

When a page appears in search results, the two pieces of text people read before deciding to click usually come from the page's title tag and its meta description. Both live in the page's <head>:

<title>Mortgage Payment Calculator | Example Bank</title>
<meta name="description" content="Estimate your monthly mortgage payment, total interest and payoff date.">

The title tag also appears in the browser tab, in bookmarks and, often, as the default text when someone shares the link. The meta description is never shown on the page itself; it exists only to describe the page to search engines and other tools.

Writing them well does not require tricks. It requires saying clearly what the page is, in a length that fits.

How much space you actually have

Search results do not cut titles at a fixed number of characters. They cut them at a pixel width: when the text is wider than the space available, it is shortened and an ellipsis (…) is added. Because letters have different widths, the number of characters that fit varies.

For example, these two strings are both 30 characters long:

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

The second is several times wider. Real titles are mixed text, so a few rules of thumb work well:

Element	Comfortable length	Why
Title	about 50 to 60 characters	Usually fits on desktop without truncation
Meta description	about 120 to 155 characters	Roughly two lines; mobile often shows less

Text with many capitals, wide letters (W, M) or digits takes more room. Text with many narrow letters (i, l, t) takes less. The exact space also differs between desktop and mobile and changes from time to time, so treat these as targets rather than limits.

The SERP snippet preview measures your text by pixel width and shows how it is likely to be cut on desktop and mobile, which is much more reliable than counting characters.

Search engines may rewrite your text

Two facts are worth knowing before you spend an hour polishing a description:

Titles are sometimes rewritten. If a title is missing, extremely long, stuffed with keywords, identical across many pages, or does not match the page content, search engines may build their own from the page's main heading or other text. A clear, accurate title is the best way to have yours used.
Descriptions are often replaced. Search engines may show a passage from the page instead, especially when it matches the searcher's query better than your description. A good description still matters: it is used for many queries, and it is what other tools and some social platforms fall back on.

Meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor for major search engines. Their job is to help the right people decide to click.

A formula for titles

A reliable pattern for most pages is:

Main topic: distinguishing detail | Brand

Start with what the page is about, in the words people actually use. "Mortgage calculator", not "Financial planning solutions".
Add one detail that sets this page apart: who it is for, what is included, a location, or a format ("step by step", "free template", "2026 prices").
End with your brand if there is room. Separate it with a pipe | or a dash. On a small site, the brand can be dropped from long titles.

Every page should have a unique title. If twenty product pages are all titled "Products | Example Shop", none of them tells anyone which product it is.

Worked examples

Before	Length	After	Length
Home \| Example Bank	19	Mortgage Payment Calculator \| Example Bank	42
Mortgage Calculator: Monthly Payments, Interest and Amortization Schedule \| Example Bank	88	Mortgage Calculator: Monthly Payment & Total Interest	53
Wallets, Leather Wallets, Mens Wallets, Cheap Wallets, Best Wallets UK	70	Handmade Leather Wallets: Free UK Delivery \| Hartley & Co	57

The first "before" is the classic template mistake: a page named after its position in the site rather than its content.
The second is accurate but 88 characters long, so the most distinctive part and the brand would be cut off. The "after" keeps the essentials within about 53 characters.
The third is keyword stuffing. It repeats "wallets" five times, reads like spam, and is likely to be rewritten. The "after" uses the main phrase once and adds a reason to click.

Articles and how-to pages

For articles, a title that states the problem and the outcome works well, for example "How to Repot a Peace Lily Without Shocking It (Step by Step)" at 60 characters. Questions are fine if they match how people search. Avoid clickbait wording such as "You won't believe…": it may earn a click, but readers who leave immediately are not the visitors you want.

A formula for meta descriptions

A useful description answers three questions in one or two sentences:

What will I find on this page?
What makes it useful or different? Specific facts beat adjectives.
What can I do there? Calculate, compare, download, book, read.

For the mortgage calculator page, a 145-character description:

Estimate your monthly mortgage payment, total interest and payoff date. Enter the price, deposit, rate and term to see a full amortization table.

For the wallet shop's category page, 135 characters:

Slim bifold and card wallets hand-stitched in vegetable-tanned leather. Made in Yorkshire, 5-year guarantee, free UK delivery over £40.

Compare that with a generic description that could belong to any site:

Welcome to our website. We offer a wide range of products and services for all your needs. Contact us today to find out more.

It is a perfectly reasonable length (125 characters), yet it tells a searcher nothing. It is also exactly the kind of description that gets replaced by page text.

Tips for descriptions

Put the most important information first. If the end gets cut off on mobile, the essentials should already have been read.
Use numbers and specifics where they are true: prices, sizes, delivery times, number of steps, the year a guide was updated.
Match the searcher's intent. Someone searching "leather wallet repair" wants different information from someone searching "buy leather wallet". If a page serves one intent, say so.
Write a different description for each page. If you cannot, it is better to leave the description out of thin template pages than to repeat the same sentence on hundreds of them; search engines will pick page text instead.
Do not promise what the page does not deliver. "Free" should mean free; "in 5 minutes" should be realistic.

A step-by-step workflow

List the pages that matter most: the home page, main categories, top products or services, and your most-visited articles.
Check what each one has today. Open the page's HTML in the SEO checker: it shows the title, the meta description, the main heading and other head tags, and flags missing or duplicated elements.
Write the title first, using the formula above, then the description.
Preview both in the SERP snippet preview and adjust until nothing important is truncated on desktop or mobile.
Check counts for platforms with hard limits. If the same text will also be used in a shop platform or a social post, the word counter shows character counts with and without spaces.
Publish, then re-check after a few weeks. Search for your page and see whether your text is being shown. If it has been rewritten, the result usually hints at why: the replacement often reflects what searchers were really looking for.

Special cases

The home page. Lead with what the business or site is and does, not "Home" or "Welcome". For a local business, the type of business and the town are often the most useful words: "Family Dental Practice in Leeds | Elmwood Dental".

Category and listing pages. Describe the range: "Women's Waterproof Hiking Boots" rather than "Category: Boots". In the description, mention the size of the range or the main filters available.

Paginated pages. Pages 2, 3 and onward of a list can keep the same pattern with "Page 2" added. They do not need unique hand-written descriptions.

Product variants. If every colour of a product has its own URL, include the variant in the title so the pages are distinguishable.

Translated pages. Write titles and descriptions in the page's language, not machine-copied from the original. Word lengths differ between languages: German and Finnish text tends to be longer than English, so check the preview again for each language.

Technical details that cause problems

One title per page. Some templates and plugins add a second <title> element. Only one should exist, inside <head>.
Escape quotation marks. A description such as content="The "best" guide" breaks the HTML attribute after the word "The". Use " inside the attribute, or single quotation marks or typographic quotes in the text.
Watch template variables. Titles like "{product_name} | Shop" or "undefined | Shop" appear when a template field is empty. Check a sample of real pages after any template change.
Do not hide text in the title with special characters or long rows of symbols. They take up space and are often removed.
Keep the main heading consistent. The page's <h1> does not have to match the title exactly, but they should clearly describe the same thing. A big mismatch is a common reason for titles being rewritten.

Common mistakes

Using the same title or description across many pages.
Starting every title with the brand name, so the page-specific words are pushed towards the truncation point.
Repeating the same keyword several times.
Writing descriptions that are vague ("Find out more about our products") instead of specific.
Letting the CMS create titles from file names, such as "IMG_2041" or "final-v3".
Forgetting to update the title when the page content changes, for example a "2024 price list" title on a page with 2026 prices.

FAQ

Is there an exact character limit? No. Truncation is based on pixel width and the device, not a fixed number of characters. Around 50 to 60 characters for titles and 120 to 155 for descriptions is a sensible target, but always preview.

Does a longer title hurt rankings? Not directly. Search engines can still read the full title; only the display is cut. The risk is that the part people see is less useful, or that a very long title is rewritten.

Should every page have a meta description? Important pages should. For large numbers of near-identical pages, a missing description is better than a duplicated one.

Why does my snippet show a date or my site name separately? Search engines may add extra elements such as the publication date, the site name and breadcrumbs. They come from the page's content and structured data rather than from the title tag, and they also take up space, which is another reason to keep the important words near the start.