--- title: Pixel width, not character count: how Google actually truncates titles description: Why a 60-character title in capitals gets cut and a 70-character one does not. url: https://moxseo.com/title-tag-pixel-width date_modified: 2026-07-29 author: Ashish Khan language: en_US --- Almost every piece of advice about title tags is based on character count: keep them under 60 characters. However, Google does not count characters; it measures title tag pixel width. The difference is significant enough that a 55-character title can be truncated while a 70-character title may appear in full. ## Why characters are the wrong unit Search results are rendered in a proportional typeface. An *i* occupies a fraction of the space of a *W*. A title in capitals is dramatically wider than the same title in sentence case. Two titles, both 58 characters: - *AFFORDABLE PLUMBING SERVICES IN CENTRAL LONDON AREA TODAY* — roughly 640px, cut - *Affordable plumbing services in central London area today* — roughly 490px, intact Same character count. Completely different outcome. Any guidance expressed in characters is approximating something it cannot see. Running our own service pages through the measurement, titles clustered between 380 and 500 pixels against a 580 pixel threshold — comfortable, but only because most of them avoid capitals. The one page that used them sat close enough to the limit that a two-word addition would have pushed it over. ## The numbers that actually matter Desktop results truncate titles at roughly 580 pixels and meta descriptions at roughly 990 pixels. Mobile differs and Google adjusts both periodically, so treat these as working thresholds rather than constants. Our [on-page audit tool](https://moxseo.com/tools/on-page-audit/) measures both in pixels and reports the width alongside the character count, so you can see which of the two is actually constraining you. Being under the threshold is not the goal in itself. The goal is that the part which carries meaning survives. ## Write for the truncation, not against it ![SEO title tag optimization should account for title tag pixel width by placing the primary keyword first, positioning the brand name at the end, removing filler words, and keeping essential text visible within 580 pixels.](https://moxseo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/seo-title-tag-pixel-width-optimization-580px-1024x683.webp)Image Source: AI-generated visual by MoxSEO Truncation is not a failure state. A long title that reads well and cuts cleanly is better than a short one that says nothing. - Put the distinguishing words first, since the front of the title always survives - Keep the brand at the end, where losing it costs least - Avoid capitals for emphasis, which buys width and gains nothing - Do not pad with connecting words that add no meaning The test worth applying: if the title were cut at 580px, would the visible half still tell someone what this page is? ## Google may rewrite it anyway A significant share of titles shown in results are not the ones the page declared. Google substitutes when it judges the title unhelpful for the query, over-optimised, or poorly matched to the content. You cannot prevent this, and treating it as a fault is a mistake. A rewritten title usually means Google found something on the page it considered more relevant. What you can do is make the declared title the obvious best choice: accurate, specific to the page, and not stuffed. Rewrites become rarer as titles become more honest. ## Meta descriptions follow the same rule Everything true of titles applies to descriptions, with a wider budget. Desktop truncation begins around 990 pixels, which is roughly 155 to 165 characters in ordinary sentence case and considerably fewer in capitals. Descriptions are not a ranking factor, which leads people to neglect them. They are a click-through factor, and click-through is the part you can actually influence from the results page. - Answer the query in the first clause, before any truncation risk - Include the specific detail that differentiates you — a number, a constraint, a price - Avoid restating the title, which wastes the only second chance you get - Write one per page. Duplicated descriptions across a site are a wasted asset. ## Mobile behaves differently, and mobile is most of your traffic Mobile results allow more lines but a narrower column, so wrapping matters more than total width. A title that survives on desktop may wrap awkwardly on a phone and lose its emphasis. Because indexing is mobile-first, the mobile rendering is the one Google evaluates. Checking only on a desktop screen is checking the less important case. The practical approach is to keep the distinguishing words inside the first forty characters. That survives every breakpoint, every device and any future adjustment Google makes to the thresholds. ## A worked example Take a page about emergency plumbing in Leeds. Three candidate titles, all defensible: - *Emergency Plumber Leeds | 24/7 Callout | Gas Safe Registered | YourCo* — roughly 620px, cut mid-phrase - *Emergency Plumber in Leeds — 24/7 Gas Safe Callout | YourCo* — roughly 510px, intact - *Leeds Emergency Plumbing Services Available Twenty-Four Hours* — roughly 540px, intact but vaguer The second is the strongest, not because it is shortest, but because everything that differentiates the business survives truncation and the brand sits where losing it costs least. Run your own through our [on-page audit](https://moxseo.com/tools/on-page-audit/) and compare the pixel figure against the character count. The pages where the two disagree most are the ones worth rewriting. ## Sources and further reading - [Influencing your title links in search results](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/title-link) - [Control your snippets in search results](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/snippet) ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the safe title length in characters? Around 45 to 60 as a rough guide, but measure the pixel width if the title uses capitals, numbers or wide letters. ### Does the title tag still affect rankings? It is a relevance signal, though a weaker one than it once was. It matters far more for click-through, which is where the real gain sits. ### Should the brand name go in every title? On most pages yes, at the end. On a page competing for a high-intent query, the space may be better spent on the query itself. ### Why does Google show a different title than mine? It judged yours less helpful for that query. Check whether your title matches what the page actually delivers, then make it more specific.