How to check for invalid elements in the <head>
One stray <img> or <iframe> can end the head early and hide your canonical and robots tags from Google. How to find it by hand, and fix it.
Head and metadata
Titles, descriptions, encoding, viewport and everything else that has to sit in the page head to count.
Guides
The viewport meta tag: what it does, and why zoom must stay on
The viewport meta tag decides whether phones show your page properly. How to check it by hand, fix it, and why blocking zoom fails accessibility.
Title tag length: why pixels matter more than characters
Google cuts titles by width, not character count. How to measure your title tag in pixels, why some 50-character titles fit and others don't, and fix them.
Meta description length, duplicates and when Google ignores yours
What a meta description does, how long it should be, why Google often shows other text instead, and how to check for missing or duplicate ones by hand.
Meta charset and UTF-8: how to check a page's character encoding
Garbled characters like ’ mean the browser guessed the wrong encoding. Where to declare UTF-8, why it must come early, and how to check a page by hand.
The HTML base tag: how one line can redirect every relative link
The HTML base tag changes where every relative link, image and canonical on a page points. How it works, how it breaks, and how to check it by hand.
Every head and metadata check SEOSnip runs 23
The page's base address is broken
A broken base address can make the page's relative links and images point to the wrong place.
How to fix
FixCorrect the base address so it is a full, valid web address, or remove it if it isn't needed.
For developersFix the
<base href> so it is a valid absolute URL, or remove the <base> element.The page sets its base address more than once
Conflicting base addresses make it unclear how links and images on the page should be resolved.
How to fix
FixKeep a single base address on the page and remove the others.
For developersKeep one
<base href> in the head and remove the duplicates; browsers only honour the first.The page declares different text encodings
Conflicting encodings can make letters and symbols display wrongly.
How to fix
FixDeclare one text encoding and make it the same everywhere.
For developersMake the
<meta charset> and any Content-Type header agree; use UTF-8.The text encoding is declared too late
If the encoding appears late in the page, browsers may misread the text before it and show strange characters.
How to fix
FixMove the text encoding declaration to the very top of the page's head.
For developersMove
<meta charset="utf-8"> to be the first element in the head, within the first 1024 bytes.The page doesn't declare its text encoding
Without it, browsers have to guess the encoding, which can garble special characters.
How to fix
FixAdd a text encoding declaration (UTF-8) at the top of the head.
For developersAdd
<meta charset="utf-8"> as the first element in the head.The text encoding is declared more than once
Repeated declarations can conflict and make browsers pick the wrong encoding.
How to fix
FixKeep a single text encoding declaration.
For developersRemove duplicate
<meta charset> elements and keep one at the top of the head.Something that doesn't belong has crept into the page's head
Elements such as images or iframes in the head can end it early, so the tags after them may be ignored.
How to fix
FixMove the stray content into the body of the page and keep the key page tags at the top of the head.
For developersMove img, iframe, div and similar elements out of
<head> (often a tag manager or third-party script) into <body>.The page has more than one head section
Duplicate head sections make the page structure invalid and its tags unpredictable to read.
How to fix
FixCombine everything into one head section.
For developersMerge the duplicate
<head> blocks into one; check for a template or plugin injecting a second.The page description is too long
Long descriptions are often cut off in search results, so the message can be lost.
How to fix
FixShorten the description so it reads in full.
For developersTrim the meta description to the recommended length so it isn't truncated in results.
The page has no description for search results
Without a description, search engines choose their own snippet, which may not sell the page well.
How to fix
FixWrite a short description that says what the page offers.
For developersAdd
<meta name="description" content="..."> with a unique, concise summary of the page.The page has more than one description
Several descriptions can conflict, so search engines may pick the wrong one or ignore them.
How to fix
FixKeep one description.
For developersRemove duplicate
<meta name="description"> tags; check for theme and SEO plugin conflicts.The page description is too short
A very short description wastes the space search results give you to explain what the page offers.
How to fix
FixExpand the description into a useful sentence or two.
For developersLengthen the meta description into a useful summary within the recommended length.
Page settings for search engines are in the wrong place
Title, description and similar tags are only reliably read when they are in the page's head.
How to fix
FixMove these tags into the head of the page.
For developersMove title, meta, link and base elements that sit in
<body> into <head>.The page title is too long
Long titles are often cut off in search results.
How to fix
FixShorten the title and put the key words first.
For developersShorten the
<title> to avoid truncation and lead with the primary keyword.The page has no title
The title is one of the first things people see in search results and browser tabs.
How to fix
FixAdd a clear, specific title.
For developersAdd a unique
<title> element in the head.The page has more than one title
Several titles are ambiguous, so search engines and browsers may show the wrong one.
How to fix
FixKeep one title.
For developersRemove duplicate
<title> elements; check for an SEO plugin and the theme both adding one.The page title is too short
A very short title makes poor use of the space search results give the page.
How to fix
FixExpand the title so it describes the page.
For developersLengthen the
<title> with descriptive terms, within the recommended length.The page isn't set up for mobile screens
Without it, phones may show a shrunken desktop version that is hard to use.
How to fix
FixAdd the mobile display setting to the page.
For developersAdd
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> to the head.The page has more than one mobile display setting
Browsers use only one, so the page may not lay out the way the team expects on phones.
How to fix
FixKeep a single mobile display setting.
For developersRemove duplicate
<meta name="viewport"> tags; keep width=device-width, initial-scale=1.Visitors can't zoom in on phones
Blocking zoom stops people with low vision from enlarging text, an accessibility failure.
How to fix
FixAllow visitors to zoom the page.
For developersRemove user-scalable=no and any maximum-scale below 2 from the viewport meta tag.
The search summary just repeats the page title
A repeated title adds nothing to the search result, so Google is likely to write its own summary.
How to fix
FixWrite a summary that explains what the page offers.
For developersGive the meta description its own text instead of copying the
<title>; check the CMS fallback.The page title is too wide for search results
Wide letters push the title past the space Google shows, so it gets cut short.
How to fix
FixShorten the title or use narrower wording.
For developersKeep the
<title> under about 560px in 20px Arial; shorten it or move the brand to the end.The search summary is too wide to show in full
Past the space Google shows, the end of the summary is cut off.
How to fix
FixShorten the summary so the key message fits.
For developersKeep the meta description under about 985px in 14px Arial.
Find these issues on any page
SEOSnip checks the page in your browser, compares the server HTML with the rendered page, and turns each issue into a ticket with the evidence attached.