Word Count, Character Count & Reading Time

Why these metrics matter — and target lengths for blog posts, SEO meta, tweets, essays and ebooks.

Why word count, character count and reading time matter for writers and SEOs — plus target lengths for titles, meta text, posts and long-form articles.

Key points from this guide

  • Word counters disagree on hyphenated compounds, numbers, footnotes and table text, so a 1-2% difference against Word on a long document is expected.
  • Character limits worth knowing: 280 for a post on X, 150 for an Instagram bio, about 155-160 for a meta description, 60 for a page title, 70 characters per SMS segment once a non-GSM character appears.
  • Reading time uses 200 words per minute for general prose; technical documentation runs closer to 100-150 and spoken delivery to 130-150.
  • An emoji is stored as several code points, so platforms often count it as two characters or more.
  • Word count is a planning aid, not a quality signal — writing to reach a number adds filler that weakens the page.

Frequently asked questions

How many words is a 5-minute read?

About 1,000 words of general prose at 200 words per minute. Add time for code blocks, tables and images, which slow readers down.

Do spaces count towards character limits?

On X, Instagram and in meta descriptions, yes — every character counts. That is why counters report totals both with and without spaces.