Why didn't fetching my URL work?

Browsers block cross-origin requests to sites that don't explicitly allow them (CORS), and most ordinary websites don't send those headers - this is a browser security rule, not a bug in this tool. Use your browser's "View Page Source" (Ctrl/Cmd+U) on the page you want to check, copy everything, and paste it into the box below instead; it works identically to a live fetch.

What's the ideal length for a title tag?

Roughly 50-60 characters is the range Google most reliably shows in full in search results, though it varies by pixel width, not character count, since some letters are wider than others. This tool flags anything outside a slightly wider 15-60 character band as worth a second look, not as strictly wrong.

Why does this tool care about a duplicate canonical tag?

When a page has more than one , most search engines only honor the first one and ignore the rest, so a second tag added by a CMS plugin or template bug silently does nothing - worse, if the tags disagree, you can't be sure which URL actually gets indexed.

Does a missing meta description hurt rankings?

Not directly - it's not a ranking factor - but without one, Google auto-generates a snippet by pulling text from the page, which you don't control and which often reads awkwardly out of context. Writing your own description doesn't boost rankings, but it does control what searchers see and click.

Meta Tag Checker - Audit Title, Description & Robots Tags

Overview

Introduction

Title tags, meta descriptions, and a handful of other <head> tags do most of the work of telling search engines and searchers what a page is about, but they're easy to get wrong silently: a title that's too long gets truncated, a missing viewport tag fails a mobile check, a duplicate canonical tag confuses which URL actually gets indexed.

This tool fetches a page (or reads pasted HTML) and checks the tags that most commonly go wrong, explaining why each one matters rather than just flagging pass/fail.

What Is Meta Tag Checker?

A meta tag auditor that parses a page's <head> and checks its title, meta description, robots meta tag, viewport tag, canonical link, and charset declaration against common SEO guidance.

It works two ways: fetching a URL directly from your browser when the target allows cross-origin requests, or reading HTML you paste in yourself, which works on any page regardless of CORS.

How Meta Tag Checker Works

The HTML is parsed with the browser's own DOMParser, then each relevant tag is located and evaluated: title and description length against Google's typical display range, robots meta content checked for a noindex directive, and canonical links counted to catch duplicates.

Each check reports a status (good, warning, or missing) along with an explanation of what that status means in practice, not just a bare true/false.

When To Use Meta Tag Checker

Right after publishing or updating a page, to confirm the title and description you wrote actually made it into the rendered HTML (templating bugs sometimes drop them).

While auditing a site section for on-page SEO gaps, since this surfaces missing viewport tags and duplicate canonicals that are easy to miss by eye.

Often used alongside Meta Tag Generator, Open Graph Checker and Canonical URL Checker.

Features

Advantages

Explains why each check matters instead of just showing a pass/fail badge.
Works on any page via the paste-source fallback, not just pages that happen to allow cross-origin fetches.
Checks title/description length using the same rough range Google uses when deciding whether to rewrite a snippet.

Limitations

Length checks are character-count based, not the pixel-width measurement Google actually uses, so a title full of wide characters can truncate even within the flagged range.
A live fetch only works when the target site sends permissive CORS headers, which most ordinary websites don't; use the paste fallback for anything else.

Examples

A well-formed page

Input

<title>Buy Running Shoes Online | Acme Sports</title>
<meta name="description" content="Shop running shoes from top brands with free shipping and 30-day returns at Acme Sports.">

Output

Title tag: good (43 chars)
Meta description: good (89 chars)

Both fall inside the ranges Google typically displays without truncating or rewriting.

A page missing a meta description

Input

<title>Home</title>

Output

Title tag: warning (4 chars, too short)
Meta description: missing

A 4-character title is far too generic and short, and with no description Google will auto-generate a snippet from body text.

Best Practices & Notes

Best Practices

Write titles and descriptions as unique, specific summaries of the page's actual content rather than reusing a template across many pages.
Check your canonical tag whenever you add or change a CMS plugin, since duplicate canonical tags are commonly introduced by SEO plugin conflicts.

Developer Notes

Title/description length checks use a wider band (15-60 and 70-160 characters respectively) than the exact pixel-based cutoffs Google applies, deliberately, since actual truncation depends on font rendering this tool can't measure; treat a 'warning' as worth a manual look, not an automatic failure.

Meta Tag Checker Use Cases

Verifying a newly published page's title and description rendered correctly in the actual HTML
Auditing a site for pages missing a viewport tag before a mobile-usability review
Catching duplicate canonical tags introduced by a CMS plugin or template bug

Common Mistakes

Writing a title tag in a CMS field that gets silently truncated or duplicated by a theme template, so the rendered HTML doesn't match what was typed.
Adding a second canonical tag via an SEO plugin without removing a hardcoded one already in the template.

Tips

Check the rendered page source (not just your CMS editor field) since some page builders inject or override meta tags at render time.

Meta Tag Checker