Free meta description checker
See your meta description and title exactly as they are, with the lengths that decide whether they survive to the search result.
- Shows the meta description and title as written
- Flags lengths that get truncated in results
- Catches a title placed outside <head>, which Google ignores
- Warns when the page carries a noindex directive
- Duplicate descriptions across pages — invisible from any single page
- Missing descriptions listed by how much traffic the page gets
- A written replacement for each one, in your site's voice
- Verification — we re-check the live page to confirm you shipped it
Learn more
Questions
What is the ideal meta description length?
Around 70 to 160 characters. Google truncates near 160 on desktop and less on mobile, so anything past that is written for nobody. Under 70 usually means you've left room unspent — that's space to give someone a reason to click.
Does the meta description affect rankings?
Not directly. Google has said for years it isn't a ranking factor. It affects whether someone clicks, which is the thing you actually wanted. A page that ranks third and gets clicked beats a page that ranks second and doesn't.
Why does Google show different text than my meta description?
Google rewrites descriptions when it thinks a passage from the page answers the query better — which is often. Writing a good one still matters: it's the version shown when it does get used, and it forces you to state plainly what the page offers.
Should every page have a unique meta description?
Yes. Duplicated descriptions across many pages are a strong hint that the pages themselves are near-identical, and they waste the one line you get to differentiate each result. Finding duplicates needs a view of the whole site, which is what CommandSEO does.
What makes a good meta description?
Say what the page gives someone and why they'd want it, in plain words, with a reason to act. Avoid keyword stuffing — it reads badly to a human and does nothing for a machine that isn't ranking on it.