How long should it be? A word count guide
The right length depends on what you write and where it will be read. Use these ranges as a starting point, then check your text with the word counter.
School and university
Follow the brief first; most teachers allow about 10% either way. Common lengths are 300–500 words for a short essay, 1,500–2,500 for a university essay, 650 for the Common App personal statement and 4,000 for an IB extended essay. A page is about 500 words single-spaced or 250 double-spaced.
Blogs and SEO
There is no magic number for Google. Write as much as the question needs and no more. As a guide, news posts run 300–600 words, how-to posts 1,000–1,800 and in-depth guides 2,000 or more. Keep the title tag under 60 characters and the meta description at 120–160.
Emails, speeches and social media
Sales and cold emails get the most replies at 50–125 words. A speech runs about 140 words a minute, so 5 minutes is about 700 words. On social media the start matters most: front-load the key line before X, Instagram or LinkedIn cut the text with "more".
Too long? How to cut
Remove filler words (really, very, just, actually), replace phrases with single words ("in order to" becomes "to"), cut repeated points and turn long lists into a short table. Use Keyword density to spot words you repeat too often.
Too short? How to add value
Add an example, a number or a short story for each main point, answer the questions readers ask next, and add a summary or checklist. Avoid padding: readers notice, and so do teachers and search engines.
- Check the brief or platform limit.
- Write first, count later.
- Cut filler and repetition.
- Check reading time for speeches and videos.
- Read it aloud once before you send it.