Meta tags that matter (and those that do not)
| Tag | Effect |
|---|---|
<title> | The clickable headline in Google and a ranking signal. The most important tag on the page. |
meta description | Often used as the snippet under the title. Not a ranking factor, but drives click-through rate. |
meta robots | noindex, nofollow, max-snippet… controls indexing and snippets. |
link rel="canonical" | Declares the preferred URL for duplicate content. |
meta viewport | Required for mobile-friendly rendering. |
meta charset | Character encoding — use UTF-8. |
hreflang alternates | Tells Google which language/region version to show. |
meta keywords | Ignored by Google since 2009. Harmless, but do not spend time on it. |
Length guidelines
- Title: 30–60 characters (about 580 pixels) so it is not cut off.
- Description: 120–160 characters on desktop; the first 120 matter most on mobile.
Google rewrites titles and descriptions when they do not match the query or the page well. Clear, specific, honest tags are rewritten less often.
How to read the report
- The Google preview shows how your snippet may look.
- Key SEO tags lists the important tags with their lengths — "missing" values need attention.
- All meta tags includes everything, including verification, social and app tags.
- The headings outline shows your H1–H6 structure; there should be one H1 that matches the title topic.
Writing new tags? Use the Meta Tag Generator. For a complete scored review, run the SEO Audit; for social tags specifically, the Open Graph Checker.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check the meta tags of a website?
Enter the page URL and click Check now. The analyzer lists the title, description, robots, canonical and every other meta tag, with lengths and a Google preview.
Does Google still use meta keywords?
No. Google has ignored the meta keywords tag for ranking since 2009. Focus on the title, description and content instead.
Why does Google show a different description?
Google rewrites snippets when it thinks another part of the page answers the query better, or when the meta description is missing, too short or duplicated.
How long should a meta description be?
Around 120 to 160 characters. Put the most important information in the first 120 characters for mobile results.
What does noindex in meta robots do?
It tells search engines not to show the page in results. Remove it from any page you want to rank.