How to use the meta tag generator
- Write the page title. The counter shows characters and the preview shows exactly where Google would cut it.
- Write a meta description that sums up the page and gives a reason to click.
- Add the page URL, your site name and, ideally, a 1200 × 630 share image.
- Choose the content type and whether search engines may index the page and follow its links.
- Copy the generated tags into the
<head>of your page, or into your CMS’s SEO fields.
How the length checks work
Google does not cut titles at a set number of characters. It truncates when the text no longer fits the result’s width, which on desktop is about 600 pixels at 20px Arial. A title full of wide letters like “W” and “M” fits fewer characters than one with “i” and “l”. The preview measures your text with the same font in your browser and trims it the way Google does:
Worked example
The title “Handmade Ceramic Mugs – Free UK Delivery | Clay & Co” is 52 characters and fits inside the pixel limit, so it shows in full. The description, “Shop handmade stoneware mugs fired in our Bristol studio…”, is 133 characters, inside the 155-character guide. It names the product, a reason to trust it and a clear benefit, free delivery.
What each tag does
- <title> is the clickable headline in search results and the browser tab name. It is one of the clearest signals of what a page is about.
- Meta description does not affect rankings directly, but it often becomes the snippet under your title. Google may rewrite it when another passage matches the search better.
- Canonical tells search engines which URL is the main version when the same content is reachable at several addresses.
- Robots controls indexing. Leave it on index, follow unless the page should stay out of search.
- Open Graph and X card tags decide the image, title and text shown when someone shares the link.
The old meta keywords tag is left out on purpose: Google has said it does not use it for ranking.
Mistakes to avoid
The same title and description on many pages makes them compete with each other and gives searchers no reason to pick one. Stuffing a keyword three times reads as spam and is often rewritten by Google. A description that promises something the page does not deliver may earn a click but loses the visitor straight away. Write one honest summary per page.
Key features
- Live Google preview with pixel-based truncation.
- Facebook, LinkedIn and X share preview with your image.
- Character counters that warn before you go over.
- Clean, escaped HTML that is safe to paste.
Practical use cases
New pages and blog posts. Draft the title and description before publishing so the search result reads well from day one.
Fixing click-through rate. If Search Console shows many impressions but few clicks, test a clearer title or a description that answers the searcher’s question.
Local and regional sites. Set the locale to en_GB or en_CA and mention the region in the description, for example “delivered free across the UK”.