Why does Google show a different title?

Google rewrites titles it considers too long, keyword-stuffed or mismatched with the page. A title that fits and matches the H1 is rewritten far less often.

What size should the social image be?

1200 by 630 pixels, under 1 MB. It works for X, LinkedIn and Facebook. Keep important content away from the edges.

Does loading a URL fetch anything else?

Only the HTML head: title, description, canonical, site name, favicon and Open Graph and Twitter tags. Nothing is stored beyond the usage log.

Is there a character limit I should follow?

Use pixels: about 580 for titles and 920 for descriptions on desktop. As a rough guide that is 50 to 60 and 120 to 160 characters.

SERP Preview Tool: Google Snippet and Social Card Preview With Pixel Widths

What the serp & social preview checks

Pixels, not characters. Four previews.

Google truncates by width, not length. This measures the same way.

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412 / 580 px

Google desktop and mobile

0 pts

Title and description rendered in Google's fonts with the site name, favicon and breadcrumb path, truncated exactly where Google would cut.

File health1 error

Disallow: / under User-agent: *
No Sitemap: line
Crawl-delay ignored by Googlebot

line 12

Pixel meters

0 pts

Live width in pixels against the 580px title and 920px description limits, with a warning as you approach them.

og:image 1200×630

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Acme Pricing

Plans from $19/mo. Free trial, no card.

X, LinkedIn, Facebook cards

0 pts

The social image, title and description as each network lays them out, using your og:image.

<main>

text 18%

Load from a URL

0 pts

Pull the live title, description, canonical, site name, favicon and Open Graph tags from any page to start from what is really there.

Live editing

0 pts

Every keystroke updates all four previews, so you can tune the copy until it fits.

User-agent: *

Disallow: /private/

Allow: /private/helplongest match wins

User-agent: PerplexityBot

Disallow: /blocks everything

Missing tag detection

0 pts

When a page has no description or og:image, the preview shows what visitors and sharers will actually see: nothing.

Why it matters

The snippet is your ad.
You are already paying for the impression.

Ranking gets you the impression. The title and description decide whether it becomes a click. Most are truncated, generic, or missing.

Truncation hides the promise

Google cuts titles around 580 pixels and descriptions around 920. If the benefit is at the end, nobody sees it. Front-load it.

Google desktop and mobilePixel meters

Social cards are the new first impression

A shared link with no image or a generic title gets scrolled past. A good og:image and title turn a share into traffic.

X, LinkedIn, Facebook cards

Characters lie

A 60-character title in narrow letters fits; the same count in wide letters does not. Measuring pixels is the only honest way.

Pixel metersLive editing

How to improve

Front-load. Then fit the pixels.

1
Load the live page
Start from what is published so you fix the real title, not a draft.
2
Put the keyword and the benefit first
Lead with the phrase people search for, then the outcome. Keep the brand at the end where truncation costs least.
3
Fit the title under 580 pixels
Watch the meter. Trim filler words before trimming meaning.
4
Write a description that answers the query
Two sentences, under 920 pixels, ending with a reason to click. Google may rewrite it, but a good one is used more often.
5
Add a 1200 by 630 social image
Set og:image and twitter:card to summary_large_image so shares get the big card.

Score after fixes

41 → 93

robots.txt

llms.txt

FAQPage

Titles and descriptions written to fit, every time

SiteLift writes titles and descriptions that fit the pixel limits, sets the social tags, and publishes with the right image, on every article.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about the serp & social preview.

They are measured with the browser canvas using Google's result fonts and sizes, against the widths Google uses on desktop and mobile. Rendering varies slightly by device, so treat the last 5 percent as a buffer.

Keep going

All tools

Pixels, not characters. Four previews.

Google desktop and mobile

Pixel meters

X, LinkedIn, Facebook cards

Load from a URL

Live editing

Missing tag detection

The snippet is your ad.
You are already paying for the impression.

Truncation hides the promise

Social cards are the new first impression

Characters lie

Front-load. Then fit the pixels.

Load the live page

Put the keyword and the benefit first

Fit the title under 580 pixels

Write a description that answers the query

Add a 1200 by 630 social image

Titles and descriptions written to fit, every time

Frequently Asked Questions

Rich Result Preview

Website SEO Audit

Schema Markup Generator

Pixels, not characters. Four previews.

Google desktop and mobile

Pixel meters

X, LinkedIn, Facebook cards

Load from a URL

Live editing

Missing tag detection

The snippet is your ad. You are already paying for the impression.

Truncation hides the promise

Social cards are the new first impression

Characters lie

Front-load. Then fit the pixels.

Load the live page

Put the keyword and the benefit first

Fit the title under 580 pixels

Write a description that answers the query

Add a 1200 by 630 social image

Titles and descriptions written to fit, every time

Frequently Asked Questions

More free tools

Rich Result Preview

Website SEO Audit

Schema Markup Generator

The snippet is your ad.
You are already paying for the impression.