Mike the SEO Guy
Menu
Full-service SEOSEO content writingBlog writingContent optimisationTechnical SEOSEO auditSEO web designEcommerce SEOB2B SEOSaaS SEOPricingResultsGuidesFree SEO toolsAboutSend a message

— Free SEO tool

Title tag checker

Titles are the blue link in Google. This finds the ones Google is most likely to ignore and rewrite, across your whole site.

Free tool · Title tag checker

Check every title tag on your site

Put in your home page. The checker reads up to 50 pages and flags titles that are missing, over 70 characters, vague, or copied across pages.

Pages come from your sitemap, or by following links from the home page if there isn’t one. Results aren’t stored anywhere. Pages built entirely with JavaScript may show as empty, because this reads the HTML your server sends.

01 How it works

What it checks, and why

01

Missing or vague titles

Google lists empty titles and vague ones like “Home” among the reasons it replaces a title with its own. Every page should say what it’s about.

02

The same title on many pages

Unique titles are the one thing Google asks for outright. Repeated boilerplate is its most common reason for rewriting titles, so duplicates are marked as problems here.

03

Length

There’s no official limit, but a 2022 study of 80,959 titles found those between 51 and 60 characters were rewritten least, and nearly all over 70 were rewritten. So: over 70 is a problem, 61–70 is worth a look.

04

Pixel width

Each result also shows an estimated width against the roughly 600px most tools use for desktop. It’s a guide to where the title might be cut, not a Google number.

Sources: Google: Title links · Zyppy title rewrite study (2022 data)

02 Questions

What people ask

How long should a title tag be?

Google doesn’t set a limit. Studies of title rewrites suggest roughly 50–60 characters survive best, and titles over 70 characters are almost always rewritten or cut.

Why has Google changed my title?

Google builds the title link from the title tag and other text on the page. It rewrites titles that are missing, repeated across pages, stuffed with keywords, out of date, or that don’t match the page’s main heading.

Should the title and H1 be the same?

They don’t have to be. The title is written for the search results; the H1 for someone already on the page. Both should describe the page accurately. The H1 checker checks those.

Pipe or hyphen between the title and brand?

Either works. The same 2022 study found pipes were removed about twice as often as hyphens, so a hyphen is the safer choice.

03 More free tools

Meta description checkerEvery page’s description: missing, duplicated or likely to be cut short.Google SERP previewSee how a title and description will look in Google, desktop and mobile.H1 checkerPages with no main heading, an empty one, or several.

All free SEO tools →

— Next step

Start with a free SEO audit

Send me your site and you’ll get a short, honest read on what’s wrong. If you want the detail after that, the full audit is a paid piece of work, or part of a retainer.

Get the free audit Usually a reply within a working day.
  • 01The main things holding your site back, in plain English
  • 02Which of them are worth fixing first
  • 03Whether a full audit or a retainer makes sense, or neither