Word Counter

Count words, characters, sentences, paragraphs. Reading time, keyword density, readability score — all in real time.

Words

Characters

No Spaces

Sentences

Paragraphs

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Read Time

Your Text0 chars · 0 words

Keyword density Readability score

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Why Word Count Matters

Word count is the most fundamental metric in writing. Academic institutions enforce strict limits (dissertations must be 80,000–100,000 words; essays must be exactly 1,500 words). Publishers specify manuscript lengths by genre (romance novels: 75,000–100,000 words; flash fiction: under 1,000 words). Job applications often specify "cover letter in 250 words or less." SEO content guidelines recommend 1,500–2,500 words for pillar pages and 800–1,200 for supporting content.

Word Count vs Character Count — When Each Matters

Use Case	Use Word Count?	Use Character Count?
Academic essays	Yes — most limits are in words	No
Twitter / X posts	No	Yes — 280 characters
SMS messages	No	Yes — 160 chars per segment
Meta descriptions	No	Yes — 155 chars recommended
Book manuscripts	Yes	No
UI copy / buttons	No	Yes — design constraints
Google Ads headlines	No	Yes — 30 chars max
SEO content	Yes — length guidelines	Sometimes

Reading Time Calculation

Our calculator uses 200 words per minute (wpm) for reading time — the standard adult silent reading speed used by most reading time estimators (Medium, Notion, Substack). Speaking time uses 130 wpm, typical for clear public speaking. Research shows adult reading speed varies widely: slow readers average 150 wpm, average readers 200–250 wpm, and fast readers 300+ wpm. The 200 wpm figure is a useful middle estimate for blog post read-time badges.

Flesch Readability Score — Practical Guide

The Flesch Reading Ease formula (developed by Rudolf Flesch in 1948) scores text from 0 to 100 based on average sentence length and average syllables per word. Higher scores mean easier reading.

Score	Level	Typical Content
90–100	Very Easy	Children's books, simple instructions
80–90	Easy	Basic consumer content, FAQs
70–80	Fairly Easy	Conversational blog posts
60–70	Standard	Most web content, news articles
50–60	Fairly Difficult	Business writing, HR documents
30–50	Difficult	Academic papers, professional journals
0–30	Very Difficult	Legal documents, technical manuals

💡 Most blog content should target a Flesch score of 60–70. Marketing copy and landing pages should target 70–80. Technical documentation can legitimately fall in the 40–60 range. If your score is below 50, break long sentences in two and replace complex words with simpler alternatives.

What is a good word count for a blog post?

For SEO purposes: 1,500–2,500 words for pillar content targeting competitive keywords; 800–1,200 words for supporting topic content; 300–500 words for news/updates. Longer is not inherently better — content should be as long as it needs to be to thoroughly answer the reader's question, and no longer.

Does word count affect SEO?

Indirectly. Google's ranking factors do not include raw word count. However, longer content tends to cover a topic more thoroughly (more keyword coverage, more questions answered), earns more backlinks, and generates more time-on-page — all of which do affect rankings. The correlation between length and rankings is real but causation is complex.

What is keyword density and is it still relevant?

Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword appears relative to total word count. It was a significant SEO factor in the early 2000s. Modern Google uses semantic analysis and is not easily fooled by keyword stuffing. A density of 1–2% for your primary keyword is natural; above 3% starts to look manipulative. Focus on writing for humans, not density targets.