Quick answer: Meta tags are short lines in a page’s head that tell search engines and social networks about the page. The most important are the title, the meta description, the canonical URL and the Open Graph tags that control link previews. Aim for a title of about 30 to 60 characters and a description of about 70 to 160 characters.
Meta tags tell search engines and social networks what your page is about. The title and description decide what people see in Google results, and the Open Graph and Twitter tags decide the title, text and picture shown when a link is shared on Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp or X.
Fill in the boxes on the left and the finished code appears on the right, updating as you type. Copy it and paste it inside the <head> of your page. Special characters are escaped so quotes and ampersands cannot break your HTML, and character counters show whether your title and description are a good length.
What each tag does
- Title. The clickable headline in search results and the browser tab. Aim for about 30 to 60 characters, and put the main topic near the start.
- Meta description. The summary under the title. It does not directly raise rankings, but a clear, honest one earns more clicks. Aim for 70 to 160 characters.
- Canonical URL. The one preferred address of the page, which prevents duplicate content problems when the same page can be reached in several ways.
- Robots. Leave on “Index and follow” for normal pages. Use “Do not index” for thank-you pages, internal search results and similar.
- Open Graph and Twitter tags. Control the title, description and image shown when your link is shared. A share image of about 1200 × 630 pixels works well.
Every page on your site should have its own title and description. Copying the same one everywhere makes pages hard to tell apart in search results. Google may still rewrite them if it thinks another snippet fits a search better.
A worked example
Example. A page titled “Free Loan Calculator” with a one-sentence description and an image produces a <title>, a description tag, a canonical link, Open Graph tags for Facebook and LinkedIn, and Twitter card tags, ready to paste inside the <head> of your page. Quotes and ampersands in your text are escaped for you, so Tom & Jerry is written safely.
The tags this tool writes
| Tag | What it does | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| title | The clickable headline in search results and the browser tab | About 30 to 60 characters |
| meta description | The summary under the title | About 70 to 160 characters |
| link rel="canonical" | Says which address is the preferred version of the page | One full URL per page |
| meta robots | Allows or blocks indexing | Leave the default for normal pages |
| og:title, og:description, og:image | Controls the preview when a link is shared | Image about 1200 × 630 px |
| twitter:card | Chooses the card layout on X | summary_large_image for a big picture |
The generator writes all of these for you and escapes special characters.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Using the same title and description on every page. Each page needs its own so search engines and people can tell them apart.
- Pointing the canonical URL at the wrong page. It tells search engines which address is the main one, so use each page’s own full address.
- Adding the meta keywords tag. Google does not use it, so it is not worth the space.
Go deeper: read our guide UTM Parameters Explained: Track Every Campaign.
Go deeper: read our guide robots.txt and Meta Tags: A Practical SEO Guide.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I put the meta tags?
Inside the
section of your HTML page, before the closing tag. In WordPress and most site builders, use the SEO settings for each page or an SEO plugin field instead.How long should a title and meta description be?
Titles of about 30 to 60 characters and descriptions of 70 to 160 characters usually display in full. Longer ones get cut off with “…”. The counters here show where you are.
Do I need Open Graph tags if I already have a title and description?
They are optional but worth adding. Social networks use them to build the link preview, and without them they guess, often choosing a poor image or text.
Will meta tags improve my Google ranking?
The title tag helps search engines understand your page. The description does not directly affect ranking but improves click-through. Good content and links matter far more, so treat meta tags as a basic requirement, not a shortcut.
People also search for this as: meta tags generator, SEO meta tag generator, Open Graph tag generator, Twitter card generator, meta description generator, HTML meta tags.
Sources and further reading
- Google Search Central: Meta tags that Google supports
- Google Search Central: Influencing your title links in search results
- The Open Graph protocol
Formulas on this page are checked by automated tests against independent references. See how we test our tools.