Free meta description checker.
Paste a URL to check your meta description length, see how it renders in Google, and flag descriptions that are too short or too long. Run it across your whole site in one pass.
How long should a meta description be?
Google typically displays between 120 and 155 characters of a meta description in the SERP. Anything under 120 is leaving real estate on the table — Google will often pull its own snippet from the page body when your description is too thin. Anything over ~160 gets truncated with an ellipsis mid-sentence, which looks unprofessional and usually buries the key selling line.
The sweet spot most SEOs target: 130–150 characters, with the primary keyword and value proposition in the first sentence.
What this meta description checker catches
- Descriptions that are too short (under 120 chars)
- Descriptions that will truncate (over 160 chars)
- Pages with missing meta descriptions
- Duplicate descriptions across pages (coming soon)
- Exactly how each description renders in Google's SERP
Meta description best practices
- Lead with value.The first 120 characters are the most important — that's what always shows.
- Include your primary keyword naturally — Google bolds matching terms in the SERP, which increases click-through.
- Write for humans, not bots. Descriptions influence CTR, not rankings directly. A compelling description on page 2 can still outperform a bland one on page 1.
- Make each page unique. Duplicate descriptions are a missed opportunity and Google may rewrite them anyway.
Check the whole site
Our full-site SERP checker runs this meta description check across up to 100 pages at once — perfect for auditing a marketing site before a launch or spotting the pages that need attention first.