Meta tags checker
Paste a URL and this tool reads the page’s raw HTML, then lists its title, meta description, canonical link, robots rule, Open Graph tags and Twitter card, with notes on anything missing or likely to get cut off.
It’s for makers and marketers who changed something and want to confirm it’s live. It reads the HTML the way a crawler does, without running JavaScript, so a tag added only in the browser won’t appear. That gap is often the bug you’re looking for.
Free with a ShipScroll account.
How to use the Meta Tags Checker
- Paste the full address of the page. Check a specific page, since tags differ from page to page.
- Press Check tags. The tool follows up to two redirects and reports the page it ended on.
- Read the notes first: errors can keep the page out of results, while warnings affect how it looks once it’s there.
- Fix the tags, deploy, and check again. Results are kept for ten minutes, so a repeat within that time shows the earlier answer.
What each tag does
| Tag | What it controls | If it’s missing |
|---|---|---|
| title | The headline in search results and the browser tab | Search engines write one from your page |
| meta description | A summary Google may use for the snippet | The snippet comes from your page text |
| canonical link | Which URL is the main version of the page | Search engines choose for themselves |
| robots | Whether crawlers may index the page or follow its links | The page can be indexed by default |
| og:title, og:type, og:image, og:url | How the link looks when shared | Shared links may show no image or a poor title |
| twitter:card | The card layout on X | X decides how to show the link |
How long should a title and description be?
There’s no fixed limit. Google says there’s no maximum length for a meta description and that snippets are cut to fit the device, so a long description isn’t an error. It’s simply at risk of losing its ending on smaller screens.
This tool warns past about 60 characters for a title and 160 for a description. Treat those as a prompt to put the important words first, not as rules to hit.
Why your description may not appear in search
Google builds snippets mainly from the page’s content and only sometimes uses the meta description, when it describes the page better. A correct tag can still be replaced for a given search. Write it for the reader anyway: it’s also a common fallback when your link is shared.
Example: a page that looks fine but won’t rank
A staging setting often leaves robots set to “noindex, follow” after launch. The page loads normally, so nobody notices, but it’s telling search engines to leave it out. This tool marks that as an error at the top of the notes, which makes it the first thing to check when a new page never appears in search.
Questions
Why does the tool show different tags from my browser’s inspector?
The inspector shows the page after JavaScript has run, and this tool reads the HTML your server first sends. If a tag appears only in the inspector, it’s added by JavaScript, and crawlers that don’t run scripts won’t see it. Render important tags on the server.
Can it check pages behind a login?
No. It requests the page as a visitor with no account, so it sees whatever a signed-out visitor or crawler would, usually a login page or an error. Pages that block automated visitors may also return an error.
Why can’t it check my local or staging site?
For security it refuses private and internal addresses such as localhost. A staging site needs a public address, and if it’s password protected the tool will only see the password prompt.
I fixed a tag. Why does the result look the same?
Results are kept for ten minutes, so an identical check in that time returns the earlier answer. Your site’s CDN may also still be serving the old page. Wait a few minutes, then check again.
Do meta tags help a page rank?
They help search engines understand the page and help people decide to click, but correct tags alone won’t make a page rank. Treat this check as removing obstacles: making sure the page can be indexed and is presented the way you intended.
Related tools
- On-Page SEO AuditOne report on a page’s title, headings, images, links, schema and robots.txt.
- Open Graph PreviewPreview how a link will look when shared, and check its Open Graph tags.
- Schema Markup CheckerExtract a page’s JSON-LD, list its schema.org types, and catch syntax errors.