AM Product descriptions, blog posts, meta descriptions, marketplace titles and social captions all have a length that works and a limit you cannot cross. This word counter shows the numbers as you type: words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, estimated reading and speaking time, and the phrases you repeat most.
Counting happens in your browser. The text is not sent to a server or saved, so you can paste drafts, client copy or unpublished listings safely.
How to use the word counter
- Paste your text into the box at the top of this page, or start typing.
- Read the counts in the panel. They update with every keystroke.
- Check reading time for articles and speaking time for scripts, voiceovers and presentations.
- Open the keyword density list to see which words and phrases you repeat most.
- Edit in place until the numbers fit your target, then copy the text back to where it belongs.
How each number is counted
| Metric | How it is counted |
|---|---|
| Words | Groups of letters or numbers separated by spaces or line breaks. Hyphenated terms such as "long-sleeve" count as one word. |
| Characters | Every character, including spaces, punctuation and line breaks |
| Characters without spaces | The same count with spaces and line breaks removed |
| Sentences | Text ending in a period, question mark or exclamation point |
| Paragraphs | Blocks of text separated by a line break |
| Reading time | Words divided by 238 per minute |
| Speaking time | Words divided by 150 per minute |
Different tools can differ by a few words, mainly on hyphens, numbers, URLs and abbreviations such as "e.g.", which can look like the end of a sentence. When a limit is strict, the platform's own counter is the one that decides.
Reading time and speaking time
Reading time uses 238 words per minute, the average silent reading rate for English non-fiction found in a 2019 meta-analysis of reading studies by Marc Brysbaert. Speaking time uses about 150 words per minute, a common planning figure for presentations and voiceovers. Both are averages. Technical text reads slower, and a relaxed speaker may talk at 120 words per minute while a fast one passes 170.
As a guide, a 1,500 word article takes about six and a half minutes to read and about ten minutes to read aloud. For a video script, time a real read-through of the first paragraph and scale from there.
Keyword density
The density list shows the words and phrases you use most, as single words, two word phrases and three word phrases, with a count and a percentage of total words. Common stop words such as "the", "and", "of" and "to" are left out, since they would top every list and tell you nothing.
Use it to catch problems, not to hit a target. Google has no recommended keyword density, and its spam policies name keyword stuffing, repeating the same words unnaturally, as a practice that can hurt rankings. What the list is good for:
- Checking that the main topic phrase appears at all, especially in short product descriptions.
- Spotting a word you repeat far more than you meant to, often a sign that a sentence needs rewriting.
- Seeing whether related terms, such as materials, sizes or uses, show up alongside the main phrase.
For finding which phrases people actually search, the niche keyword research guide covers the process, and on Etsy the Etsy tag generator suggests tags.
Common length targets
| Text | Limit or target | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SEO title | About 50 to 60 characters | Google truncates by pixel width, no fixed limit |
| Meta description | About 150 to 160 characters | Also truncated to fit the screen |
| X (Twitter) post | 280 characters | Longer posts need X Premium |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 characters | Only the first lines show before "more" |
| YouTube description | 5,000 characters | The first lines show above the fold |
| Amazon product title | 200 characters | Some categories are lower; no word more than twice |
| Etsy listing title | 140 characters | Etsy advises short, readable titles |
| eBay listing title | 80 characters | Hard limit |
Most of these limits count characters, not words, so switch to the character counter when you write titles and captions. The meta description generator drafts descriptions within the usual range, and the Shopify product title guide covers what to put in the title in the first place.
Tips for product and page copy
- Product descriptions do not need a word count target. Cover what buyers ask: size, material, use, care and what is included. Thin, copied supplier text is the bigger problem.
- Blog posts and guides should be as long as the topic needs. Compare with the pages that already rank rather than picking a number.
- Video and podcast scripts should be planned by speaking time, not word count. A 60 second video is roughly 150 words, and a 10 minute video roughly 1,500.
- Marketplace listings are limited by characters, so a short title can still be too long if it uses long words. Check both counts before you paste.
- Headings and titles read better in consistent capitalization. The case converter fixes that in one click.
If you publish content sites at scale, the AM Jarvis AI Site Builder writes pillar and cluster pages with a content depth you choose, on your own AI key.