What does this meta description length checker show?
It shows your meta description character count, the word count and the estimated pixel width on desktop and on mobile. The two bars tell you at a glance whether the text is likely to fit or be cut. For the reasoning behind these numbers, read our guide to meta description length.
A meta description is the short summary in the <meta name="description"> tag of a page. Google may show it as the gray snippet under your title. This checker looks at that summary only. For the blue headline above it, use the meta title length checker.
How long should a meta description be?
As a rule of thumb, write about 120 to 150 characters, with the main point in the first 100. Google sets no official character limit or maximum length, but longer text is cut to fit the screen, so anything past that point may never be seen.
| Screen | Estimated width | Average text that fits |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop | About 920 px | About 147 characters |
| Mobile | About 680 px | About 108 characters |
These are estimates from how results usually look, not figures Google publishes. The checker measures your text in 14 pixel Arial against both widths, and marks text under about 70 characters as short. Wide letters fill the space sooner, so a 155-character description can already be too long.
Why does the mobile bar fill up faster?
Because a phone shows less text before it cuts the snippet. The same description that fits on a laptop can lose its last words on a smaller screen.
So when the mobile bar is full, the checker shows roughly what a phone may display. Read that part on its own. If the key fact sits in the hidden part, move it forward.
Wide letters and capitals take more room than narrow ones, so trust the bars more than the character total.
Does Google always use your meta description?
No. Google often writes the snippet from the page text instead, picking the part that best matches what the person searched for. It tends to use your description when that text describes the page well.
You can improve the odds: write a unique summary for every page, keep it accurate, and avoid lists of keywords. Google explains how snippets are chosen in its guide to controlling your snippets in search results.
What makes a description worth clicking?
A good description answers one question for the reader: will this page solve my problem? Keep these habits in mind:
- Start with the benefit. Say what the reader gets, in plain words.
- Be specific. A number, a format or a time frame is easier to trust than general praise.
- Match the page. Promise only what the page delivers, or readers leave quickly.
- Use the search phrase once. Search results often show matching words in bold, so a natural mention helps.
- Write a new one for each page. Repeated summaries tell nobody which page to choose.
How do I fix a description that is too long or too short?
When the status says Too long, cut from the end. The last sentence is usually a closing remark that the reader can do without. Remove filler such as "in this article we will explain", and replace long phrases with short words.
When it says Too short, add one concrete detail: what the page covers, who it is for, or what makes it different. Then check the mobile bar again.
Description examples
Here are three made-up descriptions with their character counts:
- 138 characters, good: "Bake a crusty sourdough loaf at home with a simple three-day plan. Learn how to feed a starter, shape the dough and score it, with photos." The benefit comes first, and the details follow.
- 36 characters, short: "Everything you need to know, inside." It says nothing about the page, so Google is likely to pick other text.
- 195 characters, too long: "Welcome to our blog! In this post we will explain everything you could ever want to know about sourdough bread, from the history of baking to the best flour, plus lots of tips and tricks for you." The first half is filler, and the end will be cut.
Related tools and guides
To see the description together with its title and address, open the Google snippet preview tool, which switches between desktop and mobile. For limits outside search, such as ad copy or a profile bio, the online character counter shows characters with and without spaces. To fix capital letters in a draft, try the case converter for headlines.
Our meta description length guide has more examples. If you are unsure whether to count words or characters, word count vs character count explains the difference.
Privacy
Your text is measured in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, saved or tracked, and there is no sign-up. A description can be up to 1,000 characters. Like every page on this site, this one may show ads from third-party vendors once ads are switched on, and those vendors can use cookies. Read the privacy policy for details.