--- title: The character limits that matter: SERP titles, meta... description: A practical reference covering the character and pixel limits that determine how titles and descriptions are truncated across Google search results, social... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-character-limits-that-matter-serp-titles-meta-descriptions-og-tags-subject-lines-hv6c01heo twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The character limits that matter: SERP titles, meta descriptions, OG tags, subject lines | daily.dev og:description: A practical reference covering the character and pixel limits that determine how titles and descriptions are truncated across Google search results, social... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-character-limits-that-matter-serp-titles-meta-descriptions-og-tags-subject-lines-hv6c01heo og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/hV6c01heo.png og:image:alt: The character limits that matter: SERP titles, meta descriptions, OG tags, subject lines og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The character limits that matter: SERP titles, meta descriptions, OG tags, subject lines **[Flavio Copes](https://daily.dev/sources/flaviocopes)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A practical reference covering the character and pixel limits that determine how titles and descriptions are truncated across Google search results, social media cards, email clients, and YouTube. Key points: Google measures title width in pixels (~580px, roughly 60 chars), not characters, and may rewrite titles that exceed this. Meta descriptions target ~160 chars. OG tags have looser limits (og:title ~60, og:description ~200). Email subjects should target 50 chars for mobile and stay under 78 per RFC 5322. YouTube titles have a hard 100-char upload limit. Meta keywords have been ignored by Google since ~2009. A cheat sheet table and a character-limit checker tool are included. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Does Google count characters or pixels when truncating page titles in search results? Google measures pixel width, not character count, when truncating page titles — the desktop limit is approximately 580px. The commonly cited '60 characters' guideline is a proxy for that pixel budget, not a hard rule. Wide characters like capital W consume more space than narrow ones like lowercase i, so the same character count can produce very different results depending on the letters used. _Developers optimizing page titles for search track pixel-based truncation nuances like this on daily.dev._ ### What is the character limit for YouTube video titles and what happens if I exceed it? YouTube enforces a hard 100-character limit on video titles — the upload form rejects anything longer. Display truncation happens much earlier, around 60–70 characters in search results and suggested video panels, so the effective writing target is closer to 60–70 chars even though the technical ceiling is 100. _Content creators and developers building on the YouTube API keep up with platform limits like this on daily.dev._ ### What character limit should I target for email subject lines? Aim for 50 characters for mobile compatibility, since mobile mail clients typically show 35–50 characters before cutting off, and most email is opened on phones. RFC 5322 recommends a maximum of 78 characters per line. The protocol allows up to 998 characters, but that is not a practical target. Front-load the most important word so truncation doesn't kill the message. _Developers running email lists and newsletters find deliverability and engagement guidance like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Getting Your Article Shared: Tips from Ten Years of Newsletter Curation](https://daily.dev/posts/getting-your-article-shared-tips-from-ten-years-of-newsletter-curation-mkb0bevse) · Cloud Four · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [WordPress Image SEO Checklist: What Google Actually Looks For](https://daily.dev/posts/wordpress-image-seo-checklist-what-google-actually-looks-for-nkfdbi9q3) · WP Mayor · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [How to Optimize Website Content for Featured Snippets — SitePoint](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-optimize-website-content-for-featured-snippets-sitepoint-byxfybbx5) · SitePoint · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Reduced metafield value sizes](https://daily.dev/posts/reduced-metafield-value-sizes-i7i45lclr) · Shopify Developer changelog · 1 upvotes · 1 comments - [Programmatic SEO in 2026: What Still Works After March](https://daily.dev/posts/programmatic-seo-in-2026-what-still-works-after-march-zwpwsh3ez) · Alex CloudStar · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#seo](https://daily.dev/tags/seo) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-character-limits-that-matter-serp-titles-meta-descriptions-og-tags-subject-lines-hv6c01heo) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The character limits that matter: SERP titles, meta descriptions, OG tags, subject lines","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-character-limits-that-matter-serp-titles-meta-descriptions-og-tags-subject-lines-hv6c01heo","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-character-limits-that-matter-serp-titles-meta-descriptions-og-tags-subject-lines-hv6c01heo"},"datePublished":"2026-08-09T06:05:13.602Z","dateModified":"2026-08-09T06:05:41.752Z","description":"A practical reference covering the character and pixel limits that determine how titles and descriptions are truncated across Google search results, social...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7219243bb6b6113ecc90bd933965a4ef?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7219243bb6b6113ecc90bd933965a4ef?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Flavio Copes","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Flavio Copes","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/1f2dbd275797411bbd37bfdaaf0951a9","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/flaviocopes"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-character-limits-that-matter-serp-titles-meta-descriptions-og-tags-subject-lines-hv6c01heo","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"seo","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Flavio Copes","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/flaviocopes"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The character limits that matter: SERP titles, meta descriptions, OG tags, subject lines"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-character-limits-that-matter-serp-titles-meta-descriptions-og-tags-subject-lines-hv6c01heo#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Does Google count characters or pixels when truncating page titles in search results?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Google measures pixel width, not character count, when truncating page titles — the desktop limit is approximately 580px. 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