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A meta title (also called a page title or title tag) is the blue headline Google shows for your page in search results. The short answer to how long it should be: aim for roughly 50 to 60 characters, and keep it under about 600 pixels wide so it isn’t cut off on a desktop screen.
That number is a guide, though, and the wording matters more than the length. This article explains why, shows a few real-world examples, and walks you through checking your own titles.
Try the free tool: paste a title into our meta title checker and you’ll see its character count, an approximate pixel width and a preview of how it may look in Google. Nothing you type is sent to us.
What is a meta title?
It’s a line of code in the head of each web page, like this:
<title>Café in Ludlow for Breakfast & Lunch | Teme Street Café</title>
You don’t see it on the page itself. You see it in three places:
- as the clickable headline in Google and Bing results
- in the browser tab
- as the default title when someone shares or bookmarks the page
Most website systems have a box for it. In WordPress it’s usually in your SEO plugin (Yoast, Rank Math and so on). On a managed website like ours, we write it for you.
How long should a meta title be?
Google doesn’t publish a character limit. What it does is cut titles that are too wide for the space available, and swap the end for “…”. On a typical desktop result that space is about 600 pixels.
Because letters have different widths, the number of characters that fits varies:
- A title full of narrow letters like “i”, “l” and “t” can fit 65 characters or more.
- A title in capitals, or with lots of “M” and “W”, might be cut at 50.
So 50 to 60 characters is a safe working range for most titles. If yours is 62 characters but made of narrow letters, it’ll probably still fit. Mobile results allow a little more room as the title can wrap onto two lines, but writing for desktop keeps you safe on both.
Is a short meta title a problem?
It can be. “Home” or “Welcome” is short enough to fit anywhere, but it tells a searcher nothing. Our checker flags anything under 25 characters as likely too vague. A good title says what the page is about and who it’s for.
Does Google always use my title?
No. Google sometimes rewrites titles, often using the page’s main heading instead. It’s more likely to do this when the title is stuffed with keywords, is the same on lots of pages, or doesn’t match what’s on the page. Writing a clear, honest title that matches your heading is the best way to keep yours.
A worked example: a café in Ludlow
Say you run a café on Teme Street in Ludlow and your homepage title is:
Home
Four characters. It fits, but someone searching “café Ludlow” has no reason to pick you. The checker flags it as too vague and points out the generic word “Home”.
A common first fix is to cram everything in:
Welcome to Teme Street Café, Ludlow’s friendliest café for breakfast, lunch and cakes | Home
That’s 92 characters. Google would cut most of it off, and “Welcome to” wastes the most valuable words at the start.
A better version:
Café in Ludlow for Breakfast & Lunch | Teme Street Café
55 characters, about 358 pixels on our estimate. It leads with what people search for, names the town, and ends with the café’s name so regulars recognise it.
A worked example: a plumber in Shrewsbury
Trades often repeat the town name, hoping it helps:
Severn Plumbing | Plumber Shrewsbury | Boiler Repair Shrewsbury | Bathroom Fitter Shrewsbury
That’s 92 characters and about 602 pixels, so the checker says it’s likely to truncate. It also uses three separators, which looks crowded and reads like a list of keywords rather than a business.
Split it up instead. Give each main service its own page and its own title:
- Homepage: Plumber in Shrewsbury | Boiler Repairs | Severn Plumbing (56 characters)
- Boiler page: Boiler Repair in Shrewsbury | Severn Plumbing (45 characters)
- Emergency page: Emergency Plumber Shrewsbury | Severn Plumbing (46 characters)
Each title now matches one page and one kind of search, which is what Google wants to see.
How to write a good meta title
Here’s the simple formula we use for small business pages:
Main service or topic + place (if local) | Business name
A few rules that help:
- Put the important words first. If the title gets cut, the start survives.
- Use the words customers type. “Plumber” beats “plumbing and heating solutions”.
- Give every page a different title. Copying the same one onto every page makes them compete with each other.
- Match the page. If the title promises prices, the page should show prices.
- Use one separator. A single “|” or “:” between topic and brand looks tidy.
- Skip the hype. “Best”, “No.1” and lots of capitals put people off and can prompt Google to rewrite you.
How to check your meta title
- Find the current title. Open the page, right-click, choose “View page source” and search for
<title>. Or look at the browser tab. - Paste it into the meta title checker.
- Switch between the desktop and mobile previews.
- Read the suggestions. Fix the top one and check again.
Once the title looks right, put it together with your page address and description in our Google search preview. Seeing the whole result at once makes repetition easy to spot. If your description needs work too, our guide on how to write a meta description that gets clicks covers that.
Where to change your meta title
- WordPress: edit the page, scroll to your SEO plugin’s box, and change the “SEO title”.
- Wix, Squarespace and similar builders: look for “SEO settings” or “SEO basics” on each page.
- A WebHostGB managed website: email us the new wording and we’ll make the change. The £47 a month plan includes 10 changes a month, and we write the titles for you in the first place.
After you change a title, Google can take anything from a few days to a few weeks to show the new one.
Try the free tool: check your homepage title now with the meta title checker, then browse the rest of our free website tools. If you’d rather someone looked at every page for you, ask for a free website review.
Meta title questions
How many characters should a meta title be?
Around 50 to 60 characters is a safe range for most titles. Google actually measures width in pixels, roughly 600 on desktop, so a title with lots of wide letters may need to be shorter.
Is the meta title the same as the H1?
No, they’re separate. The meta title appears in search results and the browser tab. The H1 is the main heading on the page itself. They should say similar things, and they can be identical, but the meta title often adds your business name.
Should I put my business name in the meta title?
On most pages, yes, at the end. It helps people who already know you pick your result. On your homepage you might put it first if people mostly search for you by name.
Will a better meta title improve my rankings?
A clear, relevant title helps Google understand the page and helps people choose your result over the one next to it. It won’t fix a thin page on its own, but it’s one of the quickest and cheapest improvements you can make.
Why is Google showing a different title from the one I wrote?
Google rewrites titles it thinks don’t describe the page well, especially very long, repetitive or keyword-stuffed ones. Make the title shorter, specific to that page and close to the page’s main heading.