How to Write SEO Titles and Meta Descriptions

By Neha·Published October 1, 2026·Updated October 15, 2026

Search "AC repair Coimbatore" on your phone and look at the results. Ten businesses, all offering roughly the same thing. You choose one in about two seconds, based on a blue headline and two grey lines. That headline and those lines are, most of the time, the page's SEO title and meta description.

They are the cheapest improvement on most small business websites. No new pages, no design work, no money: just a few well-chosen words per page. This guide gives you simple formulas for both, real examples from Indian businesses, the length rules that actually matter, and what to do when Google shows something different from what you wrote.

Short answer: Start the SEO title with what the customer searched for and where, add one reason to choose you, and end with your business name. Keep it under about 580 pixels wide, roughly 50 to 60 characters. Write the meta description as a short pitch: what they get, one detail that proves it, and a next step, in about 150 to 160 characters. Give every page its own pair. The meta tag generator previews both at Google's width as you type.

What are an SEO title and a meta description?

Both live in your page's code and do not appear on the page itself.

• The SEO title, also called the title tag or meta title, names the page. Google usually shows it as the blue clickable line in results, and browsers show it on the tab.
• The meta description is a one- or two-sentence summary. Google often shows it as the grey text under the title.

In code they look like this:

<title>AC Repair in Saibaba Colony, Coimbatore | CoolFix Services</title>
<meta name="description" content="Same-day AC repair and gas refilling in Coimbatore. Split and window ACs, all brands. Visiting charge ₹299, adjusted in the bill. Book on WhatsApp.">

You rarely type this yourself. WordPress SEO plugins such as Yoast and Rank Math give each page an "SEO title" and "Meta description" box. Shopify, Wix and most website builders have similar fields under each page's search settings. If you do edit code, the meta tag generator writes the title and description tags for you, along with the Open Graph tags that control how your link looks when shared on WhatsApp or Facebook.

Why titles and descriptions matter

The title is one of the strongest hints you give Google about what a page covers. It also works as your advert on the results page: when two businesses sit next to each other, the clearer, more specific title tends to win the tap.

The description is different. Google has said it does not use the meta description for ranking. Its value is persuasion. A good description can earn more clicks from the same position, and more clicks means more calls and enquiries without any change in ranking.

How long should an SEO title and meta description be?

Google does not cut text after a fixed number of characters. It cuts by pixel width, the space the text takes on screen. Wide letters like W and M and capitals use space faster than i, l and t. That is why "SALE ON ALL ITEMS" gets cut sooner than a lowercase sentence of the same length.

These are guides, not laws. The exact space changes with device and layout, and Google adjusts it from time to time. Two habits protect you whatever the limit:

1. Put the most important words at the start.
2. Check the width, not the character count. The Google result preview shows exactly where a title and description would be cut.

For pages already live, the meta title checker and meta description checker fetch the page and tell you whether each one is missing, too short or too long.

SEO title formulas that work for local businesses

Pick the formula that matches the page. The parts in square brackets are yours to fill in.

A few rules hold them together:

• One page, one main search. A title that tries to cover "AC repair, fridge repair, washing machine repair and RO service" describes nothing well. Give each service its own page.
• Area before city when you serve a neighbourhood. People in a large city often search by locality.
• One selling point, and only a true one. Open on Sundays, free home visit, 15 years in business. Not "best" or "No. 1".
• Brand at the end, unless people already search for you by name. Then the home page can lead with it.
• Normal capitals. Title case or sentence case, never all capitals.

If you would rather pick than write, the title tag generator builds up to twelve titles from formulas like these, shows each one's pixel width and warns you if the keyword is too far back.

Meta description formula, with examples

A meta description has one job: make the right person choose your result. This three-part formula works for almost every page.

What they get + one detail that proves it + what to do next.

Here are before-and-after versions for three businesses.

AC repair service, Coimbatore

• Before: "Welcome to CoolFix. We provide all types of services with customer satisfaction."
• After: "Same-day AC repair and gas refilling in Coimbatore. Split and window ACs, all brands. Visiting charge ₹299, adjusted in the bill. Book on WhatsApp."

Chikankari shop, Lucknow

• Before: blank, so Google picked the cookie notice.
• After: "Hand-embroidered chikankari kurtis and sarees from our Chowk workshop in Lucknow. Cotton from ₹1,450. Ships across India, COD available."

Tiffin service, Surat

• Before: "Tiffin service Surat, best tiffin Surat, Gujarati tiffin Surat."
• After: "Home-style Gujarati thali delivered hot to offices in Adajan and Vesu. Monthly plans from ₹2,800. Try one day free; message us on WhatsApp."

Each "after" answers the three things a searcher wonders: is this what I need, why this one, and how do I start. Prices and offers must be real and current. If they change often, leave them out rather than show an old one.

How to write an SEO title and meta description, step by step

If you have only ever wondered how to write meta title and description text for one page, the method is the same for all of them. Use it for each important page, starting with your home page and main services.

1. Decide the one search this page should answer. For example, "chikankari kurti Lucknow". Our guide to finding keywords for free helps you pick.
2. Choose the matching title formula from the table above and fill it in.
3. Write the description with the three-part formula.
4. Open the meta tag generator. Type your title and description and watch the live preview. It measures pixel width the way Google cuts, so you see exactly what would be lost.
5. Trim until nothing important is cut. Move the key words forward; drop filler like "welcome to" and "we provide".
6. Add the page address and a share image if you also want a proper preview on WhatsApp and Facebook.
7. Copy the tags into your page's head section, or paste the title and description into your SEO plugin's boxes.
8. Repeat for every page. Each page needs its own. Pages with copied titles compete with each other; our guide on finding duplicate titles and meta descriptions shows how to catch them.

Why does Google sometimes show a different title or description?

Google does not have to use what you wrote. Its own documentation on title links says it builds the shown title from several sources, including your title tag, the main heading on the page and other text. It is more likely to replace your title when it is very long, stuffed with repeated keywords, the same across many pages, or does not match what the page is about.

Descriptions are rewritten more often. Google's snippet documentation explains that it may show text from the page itself when that fits the person's search better than your description. So a single page can show different snippets for different searches.

You cannot switch this off, but you can make your version the obvious choice:

• Stay within the width limits.
• Describe what is really on the page.
• Use the keyword once, naturally.
• Make every title and description unique.
• Keep the main heading on the page close in meaning to the title.

If Google keeps replacing a title, treat it as a clue: something about it does not match the page. If a page is not showing up at all, the title is rarely the cause; see indexed but not ranking: what to check.

Mistakes that cost clicks

• "Home" as the home page title. Very common, and it tells a searcher nothing.
• Keyword stuffing. "Tiffin Surat, Best Tiffin Surat, Cheap Tiffin Surat" looks like spam and invites a rewrite.
• The same description on every page, often left by the theme.
• Promises the page cannot keep. "Lowest price guaranteed" when the page has no prices.
• Filling in the meta keywords tag. Google ignores it for ranking, so it is wasted effort.
• Forgetting the share preview. The SEO title and the Open Graph title are separate tags. Our guide to fixing link previews on WhatsApp covers that side.

How to tell if your new titles are working

Give Google a few weeks to recrawl the page, then open Google Search Console, Google's free tool for site owners. Under Performance, filter to the page and compare clicks and click-through rate (the share of people who saw your result and clicked it) before and after. If impressions are steady and clicks rise, your new wording is doing its job. Our Google Search Console guide shows where to find these numbers.

Then move on to the next page. Rewriting the titles and descriptions of your ten most important pages is one of the best afternoons a small business owner can spend on SEO. Start with the meta tag generator, keep the Google result preview open to check width, and work through the list.

Frequently asked questions

How many characters should an SEO title have?

About 50 to 60 characters, but Google actually limits titles by pixel width, around 580 pixels on desktop. Capitals and wide letters fill that space faster. Put the service and area first, so nothing important is lost if the end is cut, and check the width in a preview tool before publishing.

How long should a meta description be?

About 150 to 160 characters, or around 990 pixels on desktop. Shorter is fine if it says what the page offers and what to do next. Do not bury the key point at the end, because that is the part most likely to be cut, especially on some mobile layouts.

Does the meta description affect ranking?

No. Google has said it does not use the meta description for ranking. It still matters because it is your sales pitch on the results page. A clear, specific description can win more clicks from the same position, which brings more visitors and enquiries.

Why did Google change my title?

Google builds the title it shows from your title tag, the page's main heading and other text. It tends to replace titles that are too long, repeat keywords, are shared by many pages, or do not match the page. A short, accurate and unique title is the one most likely to be shown as you wrote it.

Should every page have a different title and description?

Yes. Each page should answer a different search, so each needs its own title and description. Duplicate titles make it harder for Google and for searchers to tell your pages apart, and can leave the wrong page showing for a search.