Free Meta Tag Checker

What are meta tags?

Meta tags are short pieces of text in your page's code that visitors don't see on the page itself. Search engines, browsers and social networks read them. The two that matter most for a small business are the title tag (the blue headline in Google) and the meta description (the grey text under it). Together they decide what people see before they choose to click on your site or a competitor's.

You don't need to write code to change them. WordPress SEO plugins, Wix, Squarespace and Shopify all have fields for them; the steps for each are below.

Want to see how the same page looks when someone shares it on Facebook, LinkedIn or X? Use the Open Graph & Social Preview Checker.

What the checker looks at

• Title tag: its length in characters and its approximate width in pixels. Google cuts titles by width (roughly 580 to 600 pixels on a computer), so “WWWW” runs out sooner than “iiii”.
• Meta description: its length. Google shows roughly 155 to 160 characters on a computer and fewer on phones.
• Canonical: the address you tell Google is the main one for this page, and whether it matches the page.
• Robots (noindex / nofollow): in a robots meta tag and in the X-Robots-Tag header your server sends. A noindex keeps the page out of Google.
• Viewport: the tag that makes the page fit phone screens.
• Language: the lang setting of the page.
• H1 heading: how many main headings the page has, and the first one.
• hreflang: links to the same page in other languages, if you have them.
• Favicon: the small site icon in browser tabs and next to your result in Google on phones.
• Structured data: the types of JSON-LD data on the page (for example LocalBusiness or Product).

The verdict is Looks good when nothing needs fixing (there may be notes), Worth fixing when something could be better, and Problem found when something is stopping the page from showing well in Google, such as a missing title or a noindex.

How to edit meta tags on your website builder

Each result above has a “How to fix this” link to the right section. The quick version:

• WordPress: install one SEO plugin, such as Yoast SEO or Rank Math (not both). Then edit the page: Yoast's box is below the editor (or behind the Yoast icon at the top right); Rank Math's is behind its icon at the top right.
• Wix: in the Editor, open the Pages panel on the left, click the ⋯ (More Actions) next to the page and choose SEO basics. Then Publish.
• Squarespace: in Pages, hover over the page, click the gear icon (page settings) and open the SEO tab.
• Shopify: for the home page, Online Store → Preferences. For a product, collection, page or blog post, open it in the admin and scroll down to Search engine listing, then click Edit.

Fix the title tag

Write a title of about 50 to 60 characters that says what the page offers and where, with your business name at the end: “Wedding Cakes in Denver | Rose Bakery”. Every page should have its own title.

• WordPress (Yoast): edit the page, find the Yoast SEO box and change SEO title. Rank Math: open Rank Math, then Edit Snippet and change Title. Click Update.
• Wix: Pages → ⋯ → SEO basics → Title tag, then Publish. (For product, blog and other page types, Wix's SEO Settings in the dashboard set the pattern.)
• Squarespace: page settings (gear icon) → SEO → SEO Title.
• Shopify: Search engine listing → Edit → Page title (home page: Online Store → Preferences → Homepage title).

Fix the meta description

Write one or two sentences, about 70 to 160 characters: what you offer, where, and a reason to choose you (“Family-run since 1998, free estimates”). Google doesn't always use it, but a good one is used often.

• WordPress (Yoast): Meta description in the Yoast SEO box. Rank Math: Edit Snippet → Description. If the checker finds two descriptions, your theme may add one too: turn off the theme's SEO option or use only the plugin.
• Wix: Pages → ⋯ → SEO basics → Meta description, then Publish.
• Squarespace: page settings → SEO → SEO Description.
• Shopify: Search engine listing → Edit → Meta description (home page: Online Store → Preferences).

Fix the canonical address

For a normal page, the canonical should be the page's own full address, the same one your site uses (https, with or without www, as your site does). Point it somewhere else only when the page is a copy of another one.

• WordPress: Yoast and Rank Math set it for you. To change one page: Yoast's Advanced tab → Canonical URL; Rank Math's Advanced tab → Canonical URL. Leave it empty to use the page's own address.
• Wix: by default Wix gives every page a canonical that points to the page itself. To change one: SEO basics → Advanced SEO → Additional Tags, find the canonical tag and click Edit, then Publish.
• Squarespace and Shopify: set automatically. A wrong canonical on Shopify usually comes from theme code or an app; ask the theme's developer.

Remove a noindex (the page is hidden from Google)

• WordPress, whole site: Settings → Reading, untick Discourage search engines from indexing this site, then Save Changes. This box is often left on after a site is built.
• WordPress, one page: Yoast's Advanced tab → Allow search engines to show this page in search results? → Yes. Rank Math's Advanced tab → Robots Meta → Index.
• Wix: Pages → ⋯ → SEO basics → turn on Let search engines index this page, then Publish. A site that isn't published yet, or is password-protected, isn't indexed either.
• Squarespace: page settings → SEO → turn off Hide page from search engine results. Also check that the whole site isn't private or password-protected.
• Shopify: a store behind a password (Online Store → Preferences → Password protection) can't be listed. Otherwise a noindex usually comes from an app or theme code.
• The X-Robots-Tag header: this comes from your server, not the page. It is common on staging or test copies of a site. Ask your host, or check your hosting control panel, Cloudflare rules or security plugin.

Fix a missing viewport tag

Wix, Squarespace and Shopify add it for you. On WordPress, every modern theme adds it; if yours doesn't, the theme is very old. Update it, or switch to a current theme. Removing user-scalable=no or maximum-scale=1 (if your theme has an option for it) lets visitors zoom in.

Set the page language

• WordPress: Settings → General → Site Language.
• Wix, Squarespace, Shopify: the site's language setting (look for Language or Language & Region in the site settings). These builders normally add it for you.

Give the page one main heading (H1)

The H1 should say what the page is about, close to the title tag: “Wedding Cakes in Denver”. On WordPress, most themes show the page title as the H1; in the block editor, don't add a second Heading 1 below it. On Wix, select the text and choose Heading 1 from the text theme list. On Squarespace, pick Heading 1 in the text block's style list. Shopify themes usually make the product or page title the H1.

Add a favicon (site icon)

• WordPress: Site Icon, under Appearance → Customize → Site Identity (or Settings → General in newer versions, or the Site Editor for block themes). Upload a square image of at least 512 × 512 pixels.
• Wix: Settings → Website settings → Favicon in your site's dashboard (Wix shows a favicon only on sites with a Premium plan and a connected domain).
• Squarespace: Settings → Website → Favicon (older dashboards: Design → Browser Icon); searching the dashboard for “favicon” finds it.
• Shopify: Online Store → Themes → Customize → Theme settings → Favicon (most themes).

Structured data (JSON-LD)

Structured data tells search engines facts like your business name, address, phone number, opening hours and products. It's optional. Yoast and Rank Math add basic data for you (Rank Math's Local SEO settings and Yoast's Local SEO add-on add business details). Wix adds it for some page types and lets you add your own under SEO basics → Advanced SEO → Structured data markup. Squarespace and Shopify themes add some automatically. If the checker finds a block that isn't valid JSON, paste the page address into Google's Rich Results Test to see the error.

What this checker does, and its limits

• Reads the HTML of one page from our server, following up to 5 redirects, and reads the X-Robots-Tag header. If the page names no icon, it also checks /favicon.ico.
• It doesn't run the page's scripts. Some sites add or change tags with scripts after the page loads; Google often sees those, but this checker doesn't.
• The search preview is our own drawing. Pixel widths are estimated for Arial at Google's title size; Google changes its layout from time to time and often rewrites titles and descriptions.
• Structured data: we list the JSON-LD types and spot blocks that aren't valid JSON. We don't check every field; Google's Rich Results Test does.
• Reads pages up to 2 MB. Introduces itself as FlatRateChatBot; some sites block automated checks, and then the result says so instead of guessing.
• To check a whole site, not just one page, try the Sitemap Generator (which pages exist) and the Broken Link Checker (which links fail).
• Up to 60 checks a day from one connection, and 30 a day of the same website. No report is saved: we keep only the counters for these daily limits and anonymous usage counts.
• Also free: the Broken Link Checker tests every link on your pages.
• Also free: the Sitemap Generator makes an XML sitemap of your pages and checks the one you have.
• Also free: the Google Maps Embed Generator makes the code to show your business on a Google map on your website.
• Also free: the WhatsApp Link Generator makes WhatsApp, click-to-call and text links, website buttons and a QR code.
• Also free: the Google Review Link Generator turns your Google review link into a QR code, a printable sign and ready-to-send messages.
• Also free: the Website Down Checker checks from our server whether a website answers right now, and why not.
• Also free: the Redirect Checker shows every redirect a web address goes through, step by step.
• Also free: the SSL Checker checks that your site opens securely on https and shows its certificate details.
• Also free: the Robots.txt Checker reads your robots.txt and shows whether it blocks Google, AI crawlers or your sitemap.
• Also free: the Robots.txt Generator makes a robots.txt file for your website and checks it as you type.
• Also free: the Website Accessibility Checker scans one page for common accessibility problems, like images without alt text and form fields without labels.
• Also free: the Open Graph Checker shows how a page will look when shared on Facebook, LinkedIn and X, and checks its og:image.

Questions