Knowing the right length helps you write clearly and meet requirements. Here are some common targets.
Academic and general writing
- A single-spaced page is about 500 words, and a double-spaced page is about 250 words.
- The Common App college essay has a limit of 650 words.
- A typical blog post is 800 to 1,500 words.
Social media and web
- A standard X (Twitter) post is limited to 280 characters.
- An Instagram caption can be up to 2,200 characters.
- A meta description should stay around 150-160 characters so it is not cut off in search results.
How are words counted?
Most tools count a word as any group of characters separated by spaces. Hyphenated words count as one, and numbers count as words.
Tips
- Write first, count later, then trim unnecessary words.
- Replace long phrases with shorter ones where possible.
Paste your text into our free word counter to see words, characters, sentences and paragraphs instantly.
Try it now: Word Counter