Title tag length: how long should an SEO title be?

The short answer: aim for 50 to 60 characters. Google doesn't count characters, though. It cuts titles off based on the width of the text in pixels. On desktop, the space is roughly 600 pixels; a title wider than that ends with "…". Because letters have different widths, a 55-character title full of capital Ws can be cut off while a 65-character title of narrow letters fits.

What a title tag is

The title tag is the <title> element in a page's head. It shows in the browser tab and, usually, as the blue headline of your result in Google.

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It is one of the strongest signals of what a page is about, and it is the first thing a searcher reads. A good title does both jobs: it tells Google the topic and convinces a person to click.

Characters vs pixels

Character limits are a convenient rule of thumb, but the real limit is visual. Wide letters such as M, W and capitals take more room than i, l and t. That is why two titles of the same length can be truncated differently.

The checker below measures your title in pixels using the same font size Google uses, so you can see exactly where it would be cut.

What happens when a title is too long

Two things can happen:

• Truncation: Google shows the first part of the title followed by "…". If your main phrase or brand is at the end, it disappears.
• Rewriting: Google sometimes replaces your title with its own, built from your H1, headings or link text. This happens more often when titles are very long, stuffed with keywords, or don't match the page.

A long title isn't a penalty. Google still reads all of it. But the part people see is the part that earns clicks.

Is a short title a problem?

Very short titles ("Home", "Products") waste the most valuable space you have and give Google little to work with. If your title is under about 30 characters, there is usually room to add the main benefit, the product type or the location.

How to write a title that fits

1. Put the main phrase first. Write it the way people search for it.
2. Add one reason to click: a benefit, a number, the year or "free" when it's true.
3. End with the brand if there is room. Use a short separator like | or –.
4. Cut filler words such as "welcome to", "best quality" or repeated keywords.
5. Check the width in pixels before you publish.

For more on writing, see how to write SEO titles.

Mobile titles

On mobile, Google gives titles more lines, so a title cut off on desktop may show in full on a phone. Desktop is still the stricter limit, so write for desktop and you are safe on both.

Checking titles across a whole site

Checking one title is easy. Checking hundreds is where problems hide: duplicates, empty titles and templates that add the brand twice. Paste a list into the bulk meta length checker, or scan the site with the duplicate title checker.