See exactly how your title and description will look in Google search, truncated by real pixel width, not a guessed character count.
Truncation widths (~580px desktop / ~380px mobile title, ~920px desktop / ~640px mobile description) are close approximations of Google's actual rendering, measured live using canvas text metrics in an Arial-style font. Google doesn't publish exact figures and adjusts them periodically, so treat this as a strong guide, not a guarantee.
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See How VidyBack WorksGoogle doesn't count characters when it decides whether to truncate your title or description, it measures rendered width in pixels. Letters aren't all the same width: an "i" or "l" takes up a fraction of the space a "W" or "M" does. That means two titles with the exact same character count can behave completely differently, one fits cleanly, the other gets cut off mid-word with an ellipsis. This is the single most common thing generic character-counter tools get wrong, and why this tool measures actual rendered text width instead of just counting letters.
As a starting range, most product and collection page titles fit comfortably within 50-60 characters, and descriptions within 150-160 characters, but always confirm against the pixel meter above since your specific letters will vary. Product pages tend to work well with a pattern like Product Name — Key Benefit | Brand, while collection pages often lead with the category and a value prop, like Leather Wallets for Men — Handmade, Free Shipping.
Because truncation always cuts from the end, whatever you put first is the safest part of your title. Put your primary keyword and the most compelling reason to click near the front, and push less critical information, like your brand name, toward the end where it's more expendable if space runs out.
Weaker: "Northwind Goods | Premium Handcrafted Leather Wallets For Men and Women, Made in the USA"
Stronger: "Handmade Leather Wallets for Men & Women — Northwind Goods"
The second version leads with the searchable keyword phrase, keeps the brand name at the end where it's safe to lose, and is far more likely to survive truncation intact on both desktop and mobile.
As a rough guide, aim for 50-60 characters, but the real limit is pixel width, not character count, since Google truncates titles around 580px wide on desktop. A title full of narrow letters like i and l can run longer than 60 characters and still fit, while one full of wide capitals can truncate well before 50.
No. Google frequently rewrites or replaces the meta description with a snippet pulled directly from the page content, especially if your description doesn't closely match the searcher's query or is missing entirely. Writing a good description improves the odds Google uses it, but doesn't guarantee it.
Because truncation is based on rendered pixel width, not character count. A shorter title made of wide characters, like capital letters and W's, M's, and O's, can take up more horizontal space than a longer title made of narrow characters, and get cut off sooner.
For most ecommerce stores, mobile matters more since the majority of shopping searches happen on phones, and mobile's narrower width truncates titles and descriptions sooner than desktop. Check both, but if you have to prioritize one, make sure your primary keyword and value proposition survive the mobile truncation point.
