In this guide
Your title tag and meta description are your advert in the search results. They do not need tricks: a clear promise, the words people search for, and a length that fits.
Key takeaways
- Put the main topic first in the title, in the words people search for, in about 50–60 characters.
- Write descriptions as a promise of what the page gives, in about 120–160 characters.
- Every page needs its own title and description; duplicates compete with each other.
- Google rewrites long, stuffed or vague titles, so clear and specific wins.
Meta descriptions
- Say what the page gives the reader and why it is worth the click, in one or two sentences.
- About 120 to 160 characters fits in most results; mobile shows a little less.
- Google writes its own snippet when yours does not match the search. A good description still wins most of the time for the main query.
- Do not repeat the title; add what the title could not say.
Mistakes that hurt
- Two SEO plugins (or a theme and a plugin) both printing a title, so the page has two.
- The same description on every page, often the site's tagline.
- Titles stuffed with keywords separated by commas.
- A missing title, which makes Google invent one from the page.
Preview, then check the live page
- Draft the title and description in the snippet preview to see how they fit.
- Generate the tags (with Open Graph for social sharing) in the meta tag generator.
- After publishing, run the meta tag checker on the live page to confirm there is exactly one of each.
Checklist
- Draft the title and description in the snippet preview.
- Make sure no two pages share a title.
- Check that only one SEO plugin or theme prints the tags.
- Add Open Graph tags so shared links look right.
- Run the meta tag checker on the live page after publishing.
Questions
Do meta descriptions affect rankings?
Not directly. They affect how many people click your result, which is the reason to write them well.
Why does Google show a different title from mine?
Google rewrites titles that are too long, stuffed, duplicated or do not describe the page. A clear, unique title near 55 characters is usually kept.