Get Title and Meta Description of Live URL

Introduction

This article explains how to get "title and meta description" of a URL using ASP.Net. To do that just use the following procedure.

Step 1

Download "Html Agility Pack" from http://html-agility-pack.net/?z=codeplex

I will explain how to use that downloaded file later in this article.

Step 2

Make the design to get the "title and meta description" of a URL.

Code for the design

Default.aspx

<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="_Default" %>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head id="Head1" runat="server">
<title>Get Title and Descripition of Live URl</title>
<style type="text/css">
.auto-style1 {
width: 100%;
}
.auto-style2 {
height: 15px;
}
.auto-style3 {
height: 15px;
width: 172px;
}
.auto-style4 {
width: 172px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<form id="form1" runat="server">
<div>
<h2>Get Title and Descripition of Live URl</h2>
</div>
<table style="border:groove #00FF99">
<tr>
<td class="auto-style3"><h2 style="width: 167px; height: 20px">Enter Url</h2></td>
<td class="auto-style2">
<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server" Width="530px" style="margin-left: 0px" Height="28px"></asp:TextBox>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="auto-style4"><h2>Title</h2></td>
<td>
<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox2" runat="server" Width="528px" Height="29px" Font-Bold="True" Font-Names="Times New Roman" Font-Size="Medium"></asp:TextBox>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="auto-style4"><h2>Descripition</h2></td>
<td>
<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox3" runat="server" TextMode="MultiLine" Width="531px" Height="90px" Font-Bold="True" Font-Names="Times New Roman" Font-Size="Medium"></asp:TextBox>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<br />
<asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" Text="Get" BackColor="#CC6600" ForeColor="#FFFF99" Height="33px" Width="85px" OnClick="Button1_Click" />
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
</body>
</html>

For the code above, the output looks like:

Step 3

Add the reference of the preceding download "HtmlAgilitypack".

Now let's move to the "Default.aspx.cs" code.

In this you require the following namespaces:

using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using HtmlAgilityPack;

The last namespace is available to you, when you add the reference of the above download "HtmlAgilitypack". Now let's concern ourselves with the C# code

The code given below enables you to retrieve the title and meta description of a live "URL" in ASP.Net.

using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions; // Provides access to regular expression related api.
using HtmlAgilityPack;
public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page
{
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
String url = TextBox1.Text;
WebClient x = new WebClient();
string sourcedata = x.DownloadString(url);
TextBox2.Text = Regex.Match(sourcedata, @"\<title\b[^>]*\>\s*(?<Title>[\s\S]*?)\</title\>", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase).Groups["Title"].Value;
GetMetaTagValue(url);
}
private void GetMetaTagValue(string url)
{
var getHtmlDoc = new HtmlWeb();
var document = getHtmlDoc.Load(url);
var metaTags = document.DocumentNode.SelectNodes("//meta");
if (metaTags != null)
{
foreach (var sitetag in metaTags)
{
if (sitetag.Attributes["name"] != null && sitetag.Attributes["content"] != null && sitetag.Attributes["name"].Value == "description")
{
TextBox3.Text = sitetag.Attributes["content"].Value;
}
}
}
}
}

When you write the live "URL" in the "Enter URL" corresponding TextBox then click on the button the output looks like: