Your SEO title and meta description are the first things a shopper sees in search results, often before your photos or prices. Getting their length right means your message shows in full instead of being cut off with "…".
Why titles and descriptions get cut off
Search engines don't limit titles by a fixed number of characters. They limit them by the space available on the screen. Wide letters like "W" take more room than narrow ones like "i", and phones show less than desktops. That's why the safe lengths below are guidelines, not hard rules.
Google may also rewrite your title or description if it thinks another text on the page matches the search better. You can't fully control this, but a clear, relevant title and meta description are usually kept.
SEO title: aim for 50–60 characters
Titles of about 50 to 60 characters usually display in full. For product pages:
- Put the main keyword first: "Linen Midi Dress with Pockets" beats "Our Beautiful New Summer Collection Piece".
- Add one differentiator: a material, a key feature or the use case, such as "– Breathable Summer Dress".
- Brand name is optional: add "| YourStore" at the end only if there's room.
- Make every title unique: two products with the same title compete with each other.
Good (55 characters): Linen Midi Dress with Pockets – Breathable Summer Dress
Too long: Women's Beautiful Natural Linen Midi Summer Dress with Two Deep Side Pockets and Relaxed Fit for Beach and City
Meta description: aim for 140–155 characters
The meta description doesn't directly change your ranking, but it strongly affects whether people click. Roughly 140 to 155 characters usually displays fully on desktop. Use it like a short ad:
- Say what the product is, using your keyword (search engines often bold matching words).
- Give one or two concrete reasons to choose it.
- End with a soft call to action, such as "Shop now" or "Free returns".
Example (146 characters): Stay cool in our breathable linen midi dress with deep side pockets. Relaxed fit, natural fabric, easy style from beach days to dinner. Shop now.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the meta description empty. The search engine then picks a random snippet from your page, often the shipping banner.
- Keyword stuffing. "Linen dress, linen dresses, buy linen dress" reads as spam and gets fewer clicks.
- Copying the same meta to every product. Each product page deserves its own.
- Promising what you can't deliver. "Free shipping worldwide" in the snippet but not at checkout loses trust fast.
The quick version
- Title: about 50–60 characters, keyword first, unique per product
- Meta description: about 140–155 characters, keyword plus a reason to click
- Write for people first, search engines second
Descripti writes both for every product and shows a live character count, so you can see at a glance that they fit.
