SERP Preview
See exactly how your page will look in Google search results before you publish.
Live Preview
example.com
Page Title
Meta description will appear here. Write a compelling summary that encourages users to click through to your page.
This is an approximation. Actual Google results may vary based on query and context.
💡 SERP Optimization Tips
- Title: Keep under 60 characters. Lead with your primary keyword. Avoid all-caps.
- Description: Aim for 150–160 characters. Be action-oriented and include a benefit or call to action.
- URL: Use short, readable slugs with hyphens. Avoid query strings and unnecessary parameters.
How to preview your Google search snippet
The goal is a title and description that still make sense when they're cut short, on both a laptop and a phone.
- 01
Paste the title you plan to publish
Use the exact text that will go in the <title> tag, including any " | Brand" suffix your CMS adds. The counter turns amber past 60 characters and red past 70.
- 02
Write the description against the counter
The description counter is green up to 160 characters, amber to 180 and red beyond. The preview cuts the text at 160 and adds an ellipsis, so you can see where a long sentence will stop.
- 03
Add the real URL to check the breadcrumb
Google shows the domain followed by path segments separated by ›, not the raw URL. Paste the full address and the preview drops the www and splits the path the same way, so /blog/best-running-shoes shows as example.com › blog › best-running-shoes.
- 04
Switch to Mobile before you sign off
Mobile view narrows the card and drops the title from 20 px to 18 px. A title that fits on one line on desktop can wrap to two on a phone, which pushes the description down.
What the colours and cut-offs mean
The counters use fixed character thresholds. Green means you're inside the usual safe length, amber means some results may be cut, and red means a cut is very likely. The preview itself always truncates at the green limit, so it shows you the worst case.
| Field | Green | Amber | Red | Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | 0–60 characters | 61–70 | 71 and over | Cut at 60 with … |
| Description | 0–160 characters | 161–180 | 181 and over | Cut at 160 with … |
Why character counts are only a proxy
Google trims titles when they run out of horizontal space, and letters aren't all the same width. SEO tools usually put the desktop title space at around 600 px, though Google has never confirmed a figure. We measured some titles in Arial at 20 px, the font and size this preview uses for desktop titles:
| Text | Characters | Width at 20 px Arial |
|---|---|---|
| 60 × the letter i | 60 | 240 px |
| A 54-character title in sentence case | 54 | 474 px |
| The same title in ALL CAPS | 54 | 650 px |
| A 64-character title with a brand suffix | 64 | 584 px |
| 60 × the letter W | 60 | 1,140 px |
Two titles with the same character count can differ by nearly five times in width. Capitals are the practical problem: writing the same 54-character title in all caps adds 176 px, enough to push it past the cut. Average lowercase letters come to about 9.7 px each, which is where the 60-character guideline comes from (600 ÷ 9.7 ≈ 62). If your title is near 60 and uses lots of capitals, W, M or digits, shorten it a little more than the counter suggests.
Where a snippet preview pays off
Rewriting titles for pages that already rank
Pages sitting in positions 4 to 10 often gain clicks from a clearer title alone. Draft three versions here, compare them side by side, then publish the one that reads best when cut short.
Getting sign-off without a staging link
Clients and editors understand a mock search result far quicker than a spreadsheet of meta tags. Screenshot the preview and send it with the copy.
Spotting where the brand suffix eats space
A " | Company Name" ending can take 15 characters or more. Seeing it in the preview makes it obvious when the keyword at the start needs to be shorter.
Training new writers on snippet length
Character limits are abstract until someone watches their sentence get cut in half. Typing into the live counter teaches it in a few minutes.
What this preview doesn't show
- It cuts by characters, not pixels. Use the width table above to judge titles with lots of wide letters.
- The site name line is missing. Real results show your site name above the URL, taken from your homepage and WebSite structured data, so check that separately.
- Rich results aren't drawn. Dates, review stars, FAQ dropdowns, prices and sitelinks can all change how much space your snippet gets.
- It shows what you type, not what Google picks. As the FAQ below explains, Google may rewrite both lines, so treat the preview as your best case.