SERP Snippet Preview

What this tool does

SERP Snippet Preview renders a Google-style search result from your title, URL, site name and meta description. It measures the title and description in pixels with the same font sizes Google uses, predicts truncation, bolds words from a sample query and shows the date prefix effect.

Search results do not cut titles at a fixed number of characters. They cut by width: a title full of wide letters such as W and M runs out of space sooner than one with narrow letters such as i and l. That is why a 58-character title can be truncated while a 65-character one fits, and why character counters alone often give the wrong answer.

This preview measures your text with the canvas text-measurement API using Arial at 20 px for titles and 14 px for descriptions, and compares it with the commonly observed desktop limits of about 600 px for titles and about 920 px for a two-line description. It shortens text at a word boundary with an ellipsis, as Google does, and lets you switch to a mobile layout where titles wrap onto two lines.

How to use SERP Snippet Preview

1. Enter the Title, URL and Site name of the page.
2. Paste the Meta description.
3. Type a Search query to see which words would appear in bold.
4. Turn on “Show a date before the description” for articles that display a publish date.
5. Switch between Desktop and Mobile, check the width bars, and copy the HTML when you are happy.

Tips for better results

• Front-load the words that matter so the important part survives even if the end is truncated.
• A date prefix uses roughly 90–100 px of the description line, so dated articles need shorter descriptions.
• Write descriptions as a concise summary with a reason to click, not as a keyword list.
• Check titles that include a brand separator; “ | Brand” can push an otherwise good title past the limit.

Common use cases

• Drafting titles and descriptions for new pages before they go live.
• Fixing pages whose titles appear cut off in Search Console or rank trackers.
• Showing clients or editors how a page could look in results before sign-off.
• Testing several headline variants for width while writing.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Counting characters instead of pixels; capital letters and wide glyphs fill the line much faster.
• Assuming the description will always be shown; Google rewrites snippets when another passage fits the query better.
• Using the same title on many pages, which gives search engines a reason to rewrite them.
• Writing all-caps titles, which are wider, harder to read and more likely to be changed.