Meta Tag Checker
Analyze SEO meta tags, Open Graph tags, Twitter Cards, and more for any website
What are Meta Tags?
How Meta Tags Work
Meta tags sit in the <head> section of your HTML document and communicate essential information:
- Title Tag: Defines the page title shown in search results and browser tabs (technically not a meta tag, but critical)
- Meta Description: Provides a summary of page content displayed in search results
- Open Graph Tags: Control how content appears when shared on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms
- Twitter Card Tags: Optimize link previews specifically for Twitter/X
- Viewport & Mobile Tags: Ensure proper rendering on mobile devices
- Robots Meta Tag: Instructs search engines on indexing and following links
Meta Tag Structure
Most meta tags follow this format:
<meta name="description" content="Your page description here">
<meta property="og:title" content="Your Open Graph title">
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">Why Meta Tags Matter for SEO
While meta keywords are obsolete, modern meta tags directly impact:
- Click-Through Rates: Compelling titles and descriptions increase search result clicks
- Social Media Reach: Rich previews drive more engagement on social platforms
- Mobile Usability: Proper viewport tags ensure Google's mobile-first indexing works correctly
- Search Engine Understanding: Tags like canonical and robots help search engines correctly index your content
Why Meta Tags Matter Today
Impact on Search Engine Results
Your title tag and meta description are often the first impression users get of your website in search results. While Google may rewrite descriptions, a well-crafted meta description can improve CTR by 20-30%.
Google's Official Stance: While meta descriptions aren't a direct ranking factor, Google explicitly states that compelling descriptions can increase click-through rates, which does influence rankings indirectly through user engagement signals.
Social Media Sharing Impact
When someone shares your link on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, Open Graph and Twitter Card tags control:
- Visual Appearance: Title, description, and preview image
- Engagement Rates: Posts with rich previews receive 2-3x more engagement
- Brand Consistency: Ensure your content looks professional across platforms
- Link Preview Accuracy: Prevent platforms from guessing incorrect titles or images
Consequences of Missing or Incorrect Meta Tags
Missing Title Tag
What happens: Google generates a title from page content, often resulting in poor, generic titles that don't attract clicks.
Impact: Up to 50% lower CTR in search results, reduced brand recognition, poor social sharing appearance.
No Meta Description
What happens: Search engines pull random text from your page, which may not be compelling or relevant.
Impact: Missed opportunity to control your message, lower CTR, inconsistent social sharing previews.
Missing Open Graph Tags
What happens: Facebook and LinkedIn use fallback content, often pulling wrong images or truncated text.
Impact: Unprofessional appearance on social media, reduced engagement, lost traffic from social channels.
No Viewport Meta Tag
What happens: Mobile devices render desktop version, requiring pinch-and-zoom. Critical failure for mobile-first indexing.
Impact: Poor mobile UX, potential ranking penalty from Google, high mobile bounce rates (60%+).
Mobile-First Indexing Requirements
Since 2019, Google predominantly uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking. The viewport meta tag is mandatory for proper mobile rendering:
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">Without this tag, Google may classify your site as "not mobile-friendly," directly impacting rankings.
How This Meta Tag Checker Works
Our Meta Tag Checker analyzes your webpage's HTML head section to extract, validate, and report on all critical meta tags. Here's the technical process:
Technical Process
- URL Submission: You enter a webpage URL in the checker above
- Page Fetching: Our server requests the HTML content from your URL with proper user-agent headers
- HTML Parsing: The parser extracts all
<meta>and<title>tags from the<head>section - Tag Categorization: Tags are sorted into categories (SEO, Open Graph, Twitter, Mobile, Other)
- Validation: Each tag is checked against best practice requirements (length limits, required properties, format)
- Reporting: Results display tag values, issues, and actionable recommendations
What We Check
Basic SEO Tags
Title (50-60 chars), meta description (120-160 chars), robots directives, canonical URL, language/charset
Open Graph Protocol
og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url, og:type, og:site_name for Facebook/LinkedIn sharing
Twitter Cards
twitter:card, twitter:title, twitter:description, twitter:image for optimized Twitter/X previews
Mobile & Viewport
Viewport settings, mobile-web-app-capable, theme-color, app icons for mobile optimization
Technical Tags
Author, copyright, generator, referrer policy, and other metadata for browsers and tools
Validation Issues
Missing required tags, length violations, malformed values, duplicate tags, conflicting directives
Why Use Our Checker vs Inspecting Source Code
While you can view meta tags by viewing page source (Ctrl+U), our tool provides:
- Instant Validation: Automatically identifies missing or malformed tags
- Best Practice Checks: Compares against recommended character limits and formats
- Organized Display: Groups tags by category for easy analysis
- Actionable Recommendations: Specific fixes for each issue found
- Export Options: Download results as CSV for reporting or monitoring
Common Meta Tag Errors & How to Fix Them
Even experienced developers make meta tag mistakes. Here are the most common errors and their solutions:
Title Tag Too Long (>60 Characters)
What it means: Google truncates titles longer than 60 characters with "..." in search results, hiding your message.
How to fix: Keep titles 50-60 characters. Put important keywords first. Example: "Best Coffee Maker Reviews 2026 | Top 10 Tested" (58 chars)
Meta Description Too Short (<120 Characters)
What it means: Short descriptions waste valuable search result space and may look incomplete.
How to fix: Write 120-160 characters. Include keywords naturally and a call-to-action. Example: "Discover the top 10 coffee makers tested by experts. Compare features, prices, and reviews to find your perfect morning brew. Updated January 2026." (156 chars)
Missing og:image or Incorrect Image Size
What it means: Social platforms can't display your link preview, or the image appears cropped/distorted.
How to fix: Add <meta property="og:image" content="https://yoursite.com/image.jpg">. Use 1200x630px (1.91:1 ratio) for Facebook/LinkedIn, minimum 600x315px. Include full absolute URL, not relative path.
Conflicting Robots Directives
What it means: Having both noindex in meta tag and index in robots.txt creates confusion.
How to fix: Meta robots tag takes precedence. Use <meta name="robots" content="index, follow"> for indexing or "noindex, nofollow" to block. Remove conflicting robots.txt directives.
Duplicate Title/Description Across Pages
What it means: Using identical meta tags on multiple pages confuses search engines and dilutes SEO value.
How to fix: Write unique titles and descriptions for every page. For e-commerce: Include product name, category, and differentiator. For blogs: Include article title and publish date.
Missing or Incorrect Canonical Tag
What it means: Duplicate content issues arise when search engines index multiple versions (www/non-www, http/https, with/without trailing slash).
How to fix: Add <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.com/page"> pointing to the preferred version. Use absolute URLs. Ensure consistency across site.
Quick Fix Checklist
- ✅ Title tag: 50-60 characters, unique per page, includes primary keyword
- ✅ Meta description: 120-160 characters, compelling, includes call-to-action
- ✅ Viewport tag:
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> - ✅ Charset:
<meta charset="UTF-8">at top of<head> - ✅ Open Graph: og:title, og:description, og:image (1200x630px), og:url
- ✅ Twitter Card: twitter:card, twitter:title, twitter:description, twitter:image
- ✅ Canonical URL: Points to preferred version, uses absolute URL
- ✅ Robots: Explicitly set to "index, follow" or "noindex, nofollow"
Real-World Meta Tag Examples
See how top websites implement meta tags effectively:
E-Commerce Product Page
Scenario: Amazon product listing for wireless headphones
<title>Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Headphones - Black | Amazon</title>
<meta name="description" content="Buy Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless noise-canceling headphones with 30-hour battery, superior sound quality. Free shipping. Price: $399.99">
<meta property="og:title" content="Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Headphones">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://amazon.com/images/headphones-main.jpg">
<meta property="og:price:amount" content="399.99">
<meta property="og:price:currency" content="USD">Why it works: Includes product name, key feature (wireless), brand, price, and availability. OG tags enable rich product previews on social media.
Blog Article / Content Page
Scenario: Medium article about web performance
<title>How to Reduce Page Load Time by 50% | Performance Guide</title>
<meta name="description" content="Learn proven techniques to cut page load time in half: optimize images, minimize CSS/JS, enable compression. Complete guide with before/after metrics.">
<meta property="og:type" content="article">
<meta property="article:published_time" content="2026-01-10">
<meta property="article:author" content="Jane Developer">
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
<meta name="twitter:creator" content="@janedev">Why it works: Clear benefit in title ("by 50%"), practical description, article-specific OG tags, Twitter attribution for social sharing credit.
SaaS Homepage
Scenario: Stripe's homepage targeting developers
<title>Stripe | Payment Processing Platform for the Internet</title>
<meta name="description" content="Stripe is a suite of payment APIs that powers commerce for businesses of all sizes. Accept payments online and in mobile apps. Get started in minutes.">
<meta property="og:title" content="Online payment processing for internet businesses">
<meta property="og:description" content="Millions of businesses use Stripe to accept payments, send payouts, and manage their businesses online.">
<meta name="theme-color" content="#635BFF">Why it works: Clear value proposition, target audience (internet businesses), quick start emphasis. Theme color matches brand for mobile Chrome.
Local Business / Service
Scenario: Restaurant in San Francisco
<title>Blue Plate Restaurant | Modern American Cuisine | San Francisco</title>
<meta name="description" content="Award-winning modern American restaurant in Mission District. Seasonal menu, craft cocktails, weekend brunch. Reserve your table today.">
<meta property="og:type" content="restaurant">
<meta property="og:locality" content="San Francisco">
<meta property="og:region" content="CA">
<meta property="og:phone_number" content="+1-415-555-0123">Why it works: Includes location (critical for local SEO), cuisine type, unique differentiators (award-winning, craft cocktails), call-to-action.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about meta tags and optimization
Meta tags are HTML elements placed in the <head> section of a webpage that provide structured information about the page to search engines, social media platforms, and browsers. They're crucial for SEO because:
Search Result Appearance: The title tag and meta description directly control how your page appears in Google search results. A compelling title and description can improve click-through rates by 20-30%, indirectly boosting rankings through user engagement signals.
Social Media Sharing: Open Graph (Facebook/LinkedIn) and Twitter Card meta tags control the preview image, title, and description when your content is shared on social platforms. Posts with optimized meta tags receive 2-3x more engagement.
Mobile Optimization: The viewport meta tag is mandatory for proper mobile rendering and Google's mobile-first indexing. Without it, Google may classify your site as "not mobile-friendly," directly impacting rankings.
Indexing Control: Meta robots tags (index/noindex, follow/nofollow) tell search engines which pages to index and which links to follow, helping you control what appears in search results.
While meta keywords are obsolete, modern meta tags remain essential for controlling how search engines and social platforms interpret and display your content.
The ideal meta description length is 120-160 characters (about 920 pixels on desktop). Here's the detailed breakdown:
Why This Range: Google truncates descriptions longer than ~155-160 characters on desktop and ~120 characters on mobile with "..." This cuts off your message mid-sentence, creating an incomplete impression.
Mobile Considerations: With mobile-first indexing, many SEO experts now recommend targeting 120-130 characters to ensure your full description appears on mobile devices, which have less screen space.
Best Practices:
- Front-load Keywords: Put important keywords and compelling copy in the first 120 characters to ensure visibility on all devices
- Include Call-to-Action: Use action words like "Learn," "Discover," "Get," or "Find" to encourage clicks
- Unique Per Page: Write distinct descriptions for each page. Duplicate descriptions waste SEO opportunities
- Match Search Intent: Address what users are searching for. Transactional pages should mention prices/shipping; informational pages should promise answers
Example: "Discover the top 10 coffee makers tested by experts. Compare features, prices, and reviews to find your perfect brew. Updated January 2026." (148 characters - fits perfectly!)
Important: While meta descriptions aren't a direct ranking factor, they significantly impact click-through rates, which does affect rankings indirectly.
Open Graph (OG) meta tags control how your content appears when shared on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms. Add these tags in your HTML <head> section:
Required OG Tags:
<meta property="og:title" content="Your Page Title" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Page description for social sharing" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://yoursite.com/image.jpg" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://yoursite.com/page" />Image Requirements:
- Recommended Size: 1200 x 630 pixels (1.91:1 aspect ratio)
- Minimum Size: 600 x 315 pixels
- Format: JPG or PNG, under 8 MB
- URL: Must be absolute URL (https://...), not relative (/images/...)
Additional Recommended Tags:
<meta property="og:type" content="website" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Your Site Name" />
<meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" />Testing: Use Facebook's Sharing Debugger to preview how your page will appear and clear Facebook's cache. For LinkedIn, use their Post Inspector.
Common Mistakes: Using relative URLs instead of absolute (add full https://...), wrong image dimensions (causes cropping), missing og:url (platforms may misidentify canonical URL).
No, meta keywords are completely obsolete for major search engines and have been since 2009. Here's why:
Google's Official Stance: In 2009, Google announced they don't use the meta keywords tag in web ranking at all. Bing, Yahoo, and other major search engines followed suit due to widespread abuse and keyword stuffing.
Why They Were Discontinued: Meta keywords were easy to spam. Website owners would stuff hundreds of irrelevant keywords into the meta keywords tag to rank for searches they didn't deserve. Search engines evolved to ignore this tag entirely.
Potential Downsides of Using Meta Keywords:
- Reveals Strategy to Competitors: Since meta keywords are visible in page source, they show competitors exactly which keywords you're targeting
- Wasted Development Time: Adding them provides zero SEO benefit while consuming developer resources
- May Signal Outdated SEO Practices: Their presence might indicate you're following obsolete SEO advice
What Actually Matters for SEO:
- Title Tag: Still critical - put your primary keyword here
- Meta Description: Improves CTR, indirectly affecting rankings
- Header Tags (H1, H2, H3): Structure content with relevant keywords
- Content Quality: Write comprehensive, useful content naturally incorporating keywords
- Schema Markup: Structured data helps search engines understand content context
Bottom Line: If you see <meta name="keywords"> on a website in 2026, it's a clear sign their SEO strategy hasn't been updated since 2009. Remove these tags - they provide no benefit and only expose your keyword strategy.
The name and property attributes in meta tags serve different purposes and follow different specifications:
name Attribute (HTML Metadata):
Used for standard HTML metadata defined by the HTML specification and search engines. Examples:
<meta name="description" content="Page description" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow" />
<meta name="author" content="Jane Developer" />property Attribute (Open Graph Protocol):
Used for Open Graph tags and other RDFa (Resource Description Framework) metadata. Introduced by Facebook for social media sharing:
<meta property="og:title" content="Page Title" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Description for social sharing" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/image.jpg" />
<meta property="article:published_time" content="2026-01-10" />Key Differences:
- Standard:
nameis HTML5 spec;propertyis Open Graph/RDFa spec - Use Case:
namefor SEO and browser metadata;propertyfor social media platforms - Colon Notation:
propertytags often use colons (og:title, og:image) whilenametags typically don't
Twitter's Exception: Twitter Cards technically should use property since they're similar to Open Graph, but Twitter chose to use name instead:
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Page Title" />Best Practice: Use name for standard HTML meta tags and Twitter Cards. Use property for Open Graph tags. Don't mix them - search engines and platforms expect specific attributes for specific tags.