SEO · 10 min read · Updated: 2026-10-26

How to write a meta description: a guide to title tags and SEO title length

The first thing a visitor sees in Google results is your page title and the two lines below it. Those two lines often decide whether you get the click.

In short

• The title tag is the clickable headline in search results; the meta description is the short summary shown below it.
• The title tag tells Google what the page is about; the meta description isn't a direct ranking factor but affects click-through rate.
• Google sets no character limit and truncates text to fit the screen width; in practice 30–60 characters for the SEO title and 110–160 for the meta description are safe ranges.
• Google may replace your title and description with text it generates if it finds that more suitable; unique, accurate text for every page reduces the chance.
• In the Heyşirket company panel, every page's SEO tab offers the title, description, a Google preview and live content analysis from the Starter plan up.

Your page ranks fourth on Google but nobody clicks. Often the reason isn't the ranking but the title and description shown in the result. A title that says “Home” or a sentence cut off halfway doesn't tell the searcher why they should choose you.

In this article we answer how to write a meta description, what a title tag is and how long an SEO title should be. With examples, we explain where the character limits really come from, why Google changes your text and which patterns you can use right away.

Part 1 · Definition What are the title tag and meta description?

The title tag is the title information in the page's HTML. It appears as the blue, clickable line in search results and also in the browser tab. Google calls this line the “title link”. The meta description is a short text that summarises the page in a sentence or two and can appear below the title in results.

Both are what visitors read before they see your page. Think of them as a shop window: they should honestly show what's inside and give a reason to step in.

The SEO title and the H1 on the page don't have to be the same. The H1 can be longer and more descriptive; the SEO title is the version shortened to fit in search results.

Part 2 · Impact Does the meta description affect rankings?

The title does; the meta description doesn't directly. Google uses the title to understand what the page is about. The meta description, as Google has explained, isn't a ranking factor. But it changes click-through rate: of two results in the same position, the one with the clearer description gets more clicks. More visitors means more enquiries.

Part 3 · Length How many characters for an SEO title and meta description?

Google has no official character limit. Titles and descriptions are truncated according to the device's screen width, so the real limit is pixel width. A “W” doesn't take the same space as an “i”. Still, these safe ranges work in practice:

What matters is putting the most valuable information first. Even if it's cut off, the visitor should understand what you offer within the first 50 characters. Put your brand name at the end of the title; at the start, the actual topic may fall into the part that gets cut.

Part 4 · Title How to write a title tag: 5 rules

1. Put the main keyword near the start. The page's target keyword should appear in the first half of the title. We explain how to choose it in keyword research.
2. Say what you do and, if relevant, where. “Children's Dentist in Kadıköy” is a title; “Welcome” isn't.
3. Make it different for each page. Service pages shouldn't carry titles that look like copies of each other.
4. Don't stuff keywords. Titles like “Accounting, Accounting Software, Cheap Accounting, Accounting Price” get rewritten by Google and don't build trust.
5. Brand at the end, with a separator. The “Service | Brand” pattern is both short and consistent.

Part 5 · Description How to write a meta description: pattern and examples

A good meta description answers three questions: What's on this page? Why this page? What should the reader do? While doing that in a sentence or two, use the target keyword once, naturally; Google may show the searched term in bold.

1. What? — The page's topic
2. Why? — A concrete benefit or detail
3. Next step? — A clear action

On health pages, advertising rules apply to the description too. Avoid words such as “painless”, “guaranteed” or “the best”, and promises of treatment results. On price, campaign and health pages, write only accurate and current information.

Part 6 · Rewrites Why does Google change my title and description?

Google chooses the text to show for each search. If your description doesn't fit the question, it may show a more suitable sentence from the page. Titles are similar: if a title is too long, stuffed with keywords, doesn't match the page or is the same on every page, Google may build a title from other sources such as the page's H1.

You can't prevent this completely, but you can make it less likely: keep the title short and true to the page's topic, write a description that accurately summarises the content, and open the page with a clear summary paragraph too. That way, whichever text Google picks, the result makes sense. The same clear summary also helps AI tools understand your page; see what is llms.txt.

Part 7 · Sharing Share previews on WhatsApp and social media

When a link to your page is shared on WhatsApp, Instagram or in an email, a title, a short description and an image appear too. This card is usually fed by the same SEO title and meta description; the image is the separately chosen share image. Without a share image, the platform may pick a random image from the page or show none at all.

• Choose a landscape, sharp share image with readable text for every important page.
• Keep your logo small in the image and the topic itself large.
• Before sharing a link, send it to yourself and check how the card looks.
• After changing the title and description, some apps may keep the old card cached for a while; that's normal.

We explain how shared links and social media bring visitors to your business in digital marketing for small businesses.

Part 8 · Product Writing titles and descriptions in the company panel

In the Heyşirket company panel, the edit screen of every page, post and service has an SEO tab. There you fill in the Odak anahtar kelime (Focus keyword), SEO başlığı (SEO title) and Meta açıklama (Meta description) fields, and optionally pick a Paylaşım görseli (Share image). If the SEO title is empty, the page title is used; if the meta description is empty, the page summary is used. The Google önizlemesi (Google preview) next to it shows how the text will look in results, and İçerik analizi (Content analysis) lists what's missing as you type.

• Length check: Content analysis treats 30–60 characters as ideal for the SEO title and 110–158 for the meta description, and warns that Google will cut a title longer than 60 characters.
• Focus keyword check: It checks whether the keyword appears in the title, near the start of the title, in the description, in the URL and in the first paragraph.
• Site-wide settings: The Başlık kalıbı (Title pattern, e.g. “%s | Company Name”) and default description on the SEO ayarları (SEO settings) screen apply to every page without its own SEO details.
• Bulk check: The SEO › İçerik SEO (Content SEO) screen lists the SEO score of all content; open a low-scoring one and bring it above 70. With SEO › Sayfa denetimi (Page check) you audit a single live address and see the Google and share previews.

All of these are available in the free Starter plan. The Yazım asistanı (Writing assistant) in the Professional plan scores eight measures live against your target keyword and suggests an AI draft of the title and description; the suggestion is only written into the form when you press Uygula (Apply). The Site denetimi (Site audit) also finds missing and duplicate titles and descriptions across the whole site. Step-by-step in the panel: Help › Content SEO. Tools by plan are listed on the SEO tools page.

Title and description checklist

• Every page has its own SEO title.
• The main keyword appears in the first half of the title.
• The title stays under 60 characters, the description under 160.
• The description says what I offer, why me, and the next step.
• The brand name sits at the end of the title, after a separator.
• No keyword stuffing, no all-caps, no exaggerated promises.
• On health pages I used no superlatives or promises of results.

Check your titles and descriptions Find low-scoring pages in the Content SEO list and complete what's missing in the SEO tab. Open Content SEO

Author: Heyşirket Editorial Team