Everyone from students to bloggers and marketers writes online. Whether you are writing an essay, SEO content, or copies for social media, being aware of the word count is essential. Knowing how to count words while writing helps you finish tasks on time and helps you improve the quality of your writing.
In this guide, we are going to help you with how to count words while writing, give you reasons why you should, and explain how word count tool and counters can help you write better online.
Why Tracking Word Count Online Is Important
Here we explain the importance of tracking word count while writing online.
Different online platforms have different requirements when it comes to word count. They can also be described as word count limitations. Clients and editors can also have word count limitations or requirements. Word count limitations that you do not keep track of can exceed or be less than your limitations.
Here is how tracking your word count is beneficial to you:
* Meeting content standards
* Planning the structure, flow, and logic of your writing
* Making estimates of how long the writing will take to be read
* Increasing your writing tasks
* Reducing your writing tasks
* Reducing the amount of editing you have to do later
With a good word counter, you can keep writing and lose the guesswork.
What Is Word Count in Online Writing?
Understanding Word Count
Online writing platforms often include a word count feature alongside other metrics. Word count equals the number of words in a work. It differentiates words by a space. Word, number, or abbreviation are all counts. For example, “Track word count online” counts as four words.
Most online writing platforms automatically calculate word counts. However, writing platforms and editing software all have different metrics and benchmarks.
Word Count vs Character Count
Knowing the Difference
Character count is a metric that counts each letter, number, symbol, and space. “Online writing tools” equals three words and 21 characters, including spaces.
Character counts and word counts are often paired together on writing platforms, as both metrics are required for a complete analysis.
How to Track Word Count While Writing Online
Use Built-In Editor Features
Online writing platforms often include a word count feature. However, they tend to be limited. Writing platforms may not include
Instead of relying on writing platforms, consider alternative writing analysis tools.
Online Word Counter Tools
The Easiest Way
Online word counters are the best means of tracking word counts. Their mechanisims allow for word counts to be updated in real-time.
A good words counter tool provides:
- Live word counts
- Character counts (including and excluding spaces)
- Sentence counts
- Paragraph counts
- Estimated read time
This makes writing online faster and more organized.
Step-by-Step: Tracking Word Count in Real Time
The Process
The only steps to use word counter tools are as follows:
- Go to any word counter tool of your choice
- Start writing or paste the content that you want to be counted
- Watch the word count change
- Edit your writing as you wish
Most tools will a allow you to count characters as well. This is especially helpful for the titles, descriptions, and content that is in short form.
Who is Tracking Word Count Online?
Students and Academics
Students face challenges of having strict word limits. Using a word count checker eases the challenges of ensuring assignments are done without surpassing limits.
Bloggers and Content Writers
Bloggers use word counters to aid in achieving stated SEO targets. In addition, they help in ensuring that the content written is of the same length or is of the same size.
SEO Experts
In regard to content, SEO is all about having the right word count and character count. This is especially the case for the content descriptions and for the content that is organized.
Marketer Copywriters
When it comes to ad copy, landing pages, and emails, each word and character are counted to make sure they are short, and to the point, and make the most of the space available.
Why Is It Important to Count Paragraphs and Sentences?
Organizing Content
A counter for paragraphs can assist you in creating content that is broken up into easily digestible sections. Long paragraphs can dissuade readers from continuing, even if the overall word count in that paragraph is quite large.
For creating good flow and good sentence cohesion, sentence count is very important. Shorter sentences will help to increase the ease of the reader to scan the document.
Balancing Conciseness and Clarity
Tracking Read Time While Writing Online
The Benefits of Tracking Read Time
Estimating the time to read the content is highly beneficial for average readers, especially for:
- Blog Post
- Articles
- Educational Content
The time to read is directly related to the sentence complexity and the total word counter. A good counter will have this calculated for you.
When Tracking Words Count, People Often Make the Same Mistakes
Checking Word Count Last
When you check the word count last, you often find that the content is padded out in order to make the content fit the word count.
Character Count
When filling out forms, titles, and even the short snippets for SEO, it is the character count that matters, yet most writers focus only on the count of words.
Using Incomplete Tools
Some tools do not provide analytics like a paragraph counter, reading time, or sentence counter. Use a tool that gives the full picture. Also Read
Best Practices for Tracking Word Count Online
Track While Writing, Not After
Ease the stress caused by tracking word count by doing it in the midst of writing rather than towards the end.
Use One Tool for Everything
Select a word counter that will do the character count, paragraph count, as well as read time, and do it all in a single counter.
Focus on Quality First
Guide yourself, do not set the word count as a goal. Write in a natural manner, and do a count check in the end, then refine the structure.
How Word Count Affects Content Quality
More Words Don’t Always Mean Better Content
Poor structure leads to high word count and poor engagement. The length of the content should be balanced with the clarity.
Clear Writing Improves Engagement
Keeping sentence length optimal, paragraph readability, and accurate reading time will all contribute to keeping readers engaged.
With word count and the metrics described above, tracking will improve the performance of provided content.
Final Thoughts
Powerful results come with the simple skill of tracking word count while writing online. It’s a skill every student and SEO expert should have. Knowing exactly how many words, characters, and paragraphs their writing contains is extremely beneficial.
Using a reputable word counter, word count checker, or character counter will allow you to track progress in real-time, manage read time, and enhance the overall readability of your content. Instead of making more guess and checks, you are able to take control of your writing. This will enable you to produce better writing and quality professional content.
FAQs
What is the best way to track word count online?
The best method is using an online word counter that shows updates in real time.
Does word count include numbers?
Yes, numbers that are spaced out are counted in a word count.
Why is character count important?
For things like titles, forms, and SEO descriptions, character count is important due to varying restrictions.
Can a word counter track read time?
Yes, many current word counters are able to track read times by word count and readability.
What is a paragraph counter used for?
This is used to improve the readability and the overall flow of a piece to better structure content.
