Meta Tag Checker

A meta tag checker reads the hidden code at the top of a web page and tells you whether search engines are getting the right signals. Our tool fetches any page you enter, checks the title, meta description, H1, canonical link, robots directives, viewport, language, character encoding and favicon, and shows how the result could look in Google. It is the quickest way to spot a missing description, a stray noindex or a canonical pointing at the wrong address before it costs you traffic.

How to use the Meta tag checker

1. 1 Sign in and open the checkerLog in to your free account and choose the Meta Tag Checker from the tools list.
2. 2 Paste the full page addressEnter the exact page you want to test, including its path, such as example.co.uk/services/boiler-repair. The checker keeps the path rather than testing only your homepage.
3. 3 Review the Google previewLook at the preview of the search result to see your title and description as a searcher might, then read each check below it.
4. 4 Work through fails, then warningsFix anything marked as a fail first, such as a missing title or a noindex directive, then tidy up the warnings.
5. 5 Recheck after publishingClear any page cache, run the check again and, for important pages, request indexing in Google Search Console.

What a meta tag checker looks for in your page head

Meta tags are instructions in the head section of a page that visitors never see but search engines read on every crawl. Some describe the page, such as the title and meta description. Some control indexing, such as the robots meta tag and the canonical link. Others affect how the page works on phones and in different languages, such as the viewport and the lang attribute.

Our meta tag checker fetches the page as a crawler would and reads the HTML that comes back. It also checks the X-Robots-Tag HTTP header, because a noindex sent by the server has exactly the same effect as one in the page, and it is easy to miss when you only look at the source code.

Why title tags and meta descriptions matter for Google

Google calls the clickable headline of a result the title link. It usually comes from your title element, but Google may build it from your main heading, other prominent text or links to the page if the title is missing, very long, repetitive or does not match the content. A clear, specific title of a sensible length gives Google little reason to rewrite it.

The meta description is not a ranking factor, but it is often used as the snippet under the title link. Google tends to show its own extract from the page when that better matches the search query, so descriptions are rewritten often. A well-written description still matters: it is used when it fits, and it is your best chance to tell searchers why your page is the one to click. AI features such as AI Overviews draw on page content rather than meta descriptions, which is another reason to keep the page and its description consistent.

How to read the meta tag analyser results

Each check is marked as a pass, warning, fail or information. A fail means search engines are missing something important or are being told not to index the page. Warnings point to things that weaken the result, and information lines describe something that may be intentional.

The Google preview uses the title and description exactly as they appear in your code, so treat it as a guide rather than a promise. Google may shorten a long title with an ellipsis, add your site name, or swap the description for text from the page that better matches a particular search. If the preview already looks cramped or cut off, the real result almost certainly will too. The character limits in our checks are deliberately practical: Google measures title links by pixel width rather than characters, so a title full of wide capital letters can be truncated sooner than one in normal sentence case.

Bear in mind that the checker tests one URL at a time. Two pages can share a template but have very different tags, so check a sample of each page type: homepage, a service or product page, a category page and a blog post.

• Title tag: a fail if missing, a warning if shorter than 15 or longer than 65 characters.
• Meta description: a fail if missing, a warning if under 70 or over 165 characters; 120 to 160 is the target.
• H1 heading: a fail if there is none, a warning if there is more than one.
• Canonical URL: a pass when it points to the page itself, a warning if missing, and information when it points elsewhere.
• Robots: a fail if noindex appears in the robots meta tag or the X-Robots-Tag header.
• Viewport: a fail if missing, because the page will not display properly on phones.
• Language, character encoding and favicon: warnings if missing.

How to fix meta tags in WordPress, Shopify, Wix and Squarespace

In WordPress, edit the page and scroll to the Yoast SEO box, where the search appearance section holds the SEO title, slug and meta description. In Rank Math, click Edit Snippet in the Rank Math panel. Both plugins also control noindex: in Yoast it sits under the Advanced tab, in Rank Math under Advanced, Robots Meta. If a page is noindexed, also check Settings, Reading and untick Discourage search engines from indexing this site.

In Shopify, scroll to Search engine listing at the bottom of a product, collection, page or blog post and click Edit. Wix keeps the title tag and description in the SEO Basics tab of each page's SEO settings, with the option to hide a page from search in the same panel. Squarespace has an SEO tab in each page's settings for the SEO title and description.

The viewport, charset and lang attribute live in your theme. If they are missing, ask whoever maintains the theme to add them to the main header template, so the fix applies to every page at once. In WordPress the lang attribute follows the site language in Settings, General, so set it to English (UK) to output en-GB.

Canonical and noindex problems the SEO meta checker catches

A canonical link pointing to another URL tells Google that this page is a copy and that the other address should be indexed instead. That is correct for a printer-friendly version or a product reachable through several categories, but it is a serious mistake on a page you want to rank. It often happens when a template copies the homepage canonical onto every page, or after a migration leaves canonicals pointing at the old domain.

A noindex directive removes a page from results completely, and is easily left on after a site launch or added site-wide by a single plugin setting. If the checker reports noindex in the X-Robots-Tag header, the cause is on the server, in your hosting configuration, CDN rules or a security plugin, rather than in the page itself.

Meta tag best practice for small business pages

Write a unique title for every page, with the main topic first and your brand at the end if there is room: Boiler Repair in Croydon | Example Heating. Write a unique description that summarises the page and gives a reason to click, such as same-day appointments or free quotes. Avoid repeating the same description across dozens of pages, because Google will usually ignore it and pick its own text.

Use one H1 that matches the promise of the title, keep a self-referencing canonical on every indexable page, and check that nothing important carries noindex. Run a meta tag checker on your key pages after any theme change, plugin update or migration, as these are when tags most often break.

Examples you can copy

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-GB">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Boiler Repair in Croydon | Example Heating</title>
  <meta name="description" content="Gas Safe engineers fixing all major boiler brands across Croydon. Same-day appointments, fixed prices and a 12-month guarantee on parts.">
  <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.co.uk/boiler-repair-croydon/">
  <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico">
</head>

<meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow">

X-Robots-Tag: noindex

Common mistakes to avoid

Frequently asked questions