Free Tool
SERP Preview Tool
Before you publish, see what a searcher will see. Paste a title, a description and a URL, and this tool shows a search-result preview with character counts and plain length guidance.
Estimates and scenarios for planning purposes only — not financial advice. The results on this page are built from the numbers you enter. They are planning aids, not predictions, and not financial, tax or legal advice. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
What this tool does
The preview shows the three parts of a search result: the title link, the URL, and the description underneath. Alongside each, the tool counts the characters and compares them with the guidance most SEO references use — around 60 characters for a title and around 155–160 for a description. Those numbers are guidance, not rules: Google measures width in pixels, not characters, so a title of 60 narrow characters fits while a title of 50 wide ones may not.
Two honest limits shape this tool. First, the pixel-width figures are approximations — the exact width depends on the characters used, and Google may show a different width on different devices. Second, Google rewrites titles and descriptions: the text you write is a suggestion, and Google may replace it with text from the page. This tool shows what you asked for, not a promise of what Google will show.
Try it
Waiting. Enter a title and description to see the counts and guidance.
How it works
The preview is built from the text you paste: title on the first line, URL on the second, description below. Character counts are exact counts of the characters you entered. The guidance — about 60 characters for a title and about 155–160 for a description — is the length most SEO references quote, and it is labelled as guidance, not a rule.
Pixel width is approximated, not measured: a title of wide characters (W, M) takes more space than the same number of narrow ones (i, l). The tool does not fetch the URL — it is paste-only, by design, so it never probes another site and never needs a server.
Assumptions and limitations
- Google rewrites titles and descriptions. The text you write is a suggestion; Google may replace it with text it thinks matches the search better. A preview here is not a promise of what will appear.
- Length guidance is not a ranking factor. A title slightly over 60 characters is shortened, not penalised; a description slightly under 155 is not punished. What matters is that the visible part says something useful.
- Desktop and mobile show different widths, and different amounts of the description. This preview is one plain rendering — check the same text on a phone before you treat it as final.
Worked example
Example: title 'How to Start Freelancing in 2026' is 32 characters — comfortably within the ~60-character guidance. Description 'A practical guide to starting freelance work: skills, first clients, pricing and honest timelines.' is 98 characters — shorter than the ~155–160-character guidance, so there is room to say more.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the title guidance about 60 characters?
Because Google shows roughly that many characters before shortening a title, on a desktop result. It is a width limit in practice — wide characters take more space — so 60 is guidance, not a hard rule.
Why is the description guidance about 155–160 characters?
That is roughly how much of a description Google shows before cutting it off on desktop. Mobile shows less. Longer descriptions are shortened, not penalised.
Does Google always show my title and description?
No. Google frequently rewrites titles and descriptions from the page content, especially when the searcher's query matches a different part of the page. Write them well anyway — they are the suggestion Google starts from.
Why can't I fetch a URL to preview it?
This tool is paste-only by design. Fetching a URL would mean probing another site from the visitor's browser, which is unreliable and unnecessary — the text you paste is exactly the text you want to check.
Does title length affect ranking?
Not directly. Length decides what is visible, not where you rank. A short, clear title that matches the page earns the click; a long one just gets cut off.