Google SERP Snippet Preview
Type a title, URL and description and see the result Google would show. Truncation is calculated by measuring pixel width in the same font Google uses, not by counting characters — which is why character-count tools often disagree with what you actually see.
- Free, no sign-up
- Runs in your browser
- Nothing uploaded
- Updated Sep 2026
Your title appears here
Your meta description appears here, truncated at the point Google would cut it.
At a glance
- Shows
- Desktop and mobile search result layouts
- Title limit
- ~580px desktop, ~490px mobile
- Description
- ~920px desktop, ~1,300px mobile (more lines fit)
- Method
- Canvas text measurement, not character counting
- Caveat
- Google rewrites titles and descriptions often — this shows your version
- Processing
- Entirely client-side
Why pixels rather than characters
Google truncates search result text by width, not by character count, and characters are not equal widths. A title of sixty is occupies far less space than sixty Ws. Any tool that counts characters is approximating, and the approximation fails exactly where it matters — on titles full of wide capitals or narrow lowercase.
This preview measures the rendered width of your text in the font and size Google uses, using the browser's canvas text metrics. When it says a title will be cut, it will be cut. The practical ceilings are roughly 580 pixels for a desktop title and 920 for a desktop description, with mobile allowing a narrower line but more of them.
One consequence worth knowing: a title written in title case is wider than the same title in sentence case, because capitals are wider. If you are two characters over, switching case style sometimes solves it without changing a word.
Google will probably rewrite this anyway
Studies consistently find Google rewrites title tags on roughly a third of results, and rewrites descriptions considerably more often than that. That does not make the preview useless, but it does change how you should use it.
Titles get rewritten most when they are keyword-stuffed, when they are identical across many pages, when they are much longer than the display limit, or when they simply do not describe the page. Google usually substitutes the page's H1 or a heading close to the matched content. So the defence is straightforward: write a title that genuinely describes the page, keep it within the display width, and make it different from your other titles. A title that satisfies those three conditions is rarely replaced.
Descriptions are different. Google frequently builds its own snippet from whatever part of the page matches the query, which is reasonable behaviour — it is showing the searcher the relevant passage. Your description gets used most often when the query is navigational or brand-related. Write it well, expect it to be used some of the time, and make sure the page contains clear passages that would make a good snippet if Google picks one itself.
What else shows up in a result
The preview shows the core snippet, but a real result often carries more, and each element is earned by something on the page:
- Breadcrumbs replace the raw URL path when BreadcrumbList structured data is present. They read better and take less horizontal space.
- Sitelinks — the sub-links under a result — are generated automatically from site structure and internal linking. There is no markup for them.
- A date prefix appears on content Google considers time-sensitive,
drawn from the visible date on the page and from
datePublishedin structured data. It can help or hurt: on evergreen content, an old date depresses clicks. - Rich results — star ratings, FAQ accordions, recipe details — come from structured data and are only shown when the markup is valid and the content qualifies.
- Favicons appear beside the domain on mobile and desktop, so it is worth having one that reads clearly at 16 pixels.
How to use the SERP Snippet Preview
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Enter your title, URL and description
Paste in what you actually plan to publish. The preview updates as you type.
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Check both layouts
Switch between desktop and mobile. Mobile allows a narrower line but shows more of them, so a description that is cut on desktop may show in full on mobile.
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Adjust anything that is truncated
Move the important words to the front. If you are barely over, switching from title case to sentence case reduces width because capitals are wider.
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Generate the tags
Take the final text to the meta tag generator to produce the markup, including the social preview tags.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is this preview?
The truncation is accurate, because it measures rendered pixel width in the same font and size Google uses rather than counting characters. What it cannot predict is whether Google will use your text at all, or what rich elements a particular query will trigger.
Why does Google show a different title to mine?
Google rewrites titles on roughly a third of results — most often when the title is keyword-stuffed, duplicated across pages, much longer than the display limit, or a poor description of the page. It usually substitutes the H1. A specific, appropriately sized, unique title is rarely replaced.
What is the ideal title length?
Comfortably under about 580 pixels, which works out around 55 to 60 characters for typical text. Aim to land below the limit rather than exactly on it, because Google sometimes appends your brand name and that pushes a borderline title over.
Should I include my brand name in the title?
For a recognised brand, yes — it builds trust and increases clicks. For an unknown site, the ten or so characters are usually better spent on something descriptive. Google often appends the brand itself regardless, so including it can be redundant.
Why does a date appear before my description?
Google adds it for content it considers time-sensitive, taking it from the visible date on the page and from structured data. On evergreen content an old date reduces clicks, so it is worth updating genuinely stale pages and reflecting that in your dateModified.
Does a longer description help rankings?
No. The description is not a ranking factor at any length. What longer text does is give Google more to potentially truncate. Write to the display limit and put the compelling part first.