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Character & Word Count Tool
How Word Count and User Experience Directly Impacts SEO
The length of your content influences its success. Some of that is technical. Certain areas, like search listings, only have so much space. The other side human-driven.
Poor user experience signals to search engines that your page is low quality. You’ll get trapped in a vicious cycle of shrinking engagement and lower rankings.
Being concise enough to capture attention, yet and comprehensive enough to be valuable, is an art. Users and algorithms have preferences.
People and algorithms look for depth and clarity.
Google and other search engines want the most relevant and comprehensive answers. That’s what people want.
Content length is a clue for depth and quality of information. Longer, well-structured content signals a page is a thorough resource. The reward is a higher ranking.
Best Length by Common Types of Content
Page Title Length
The ideal page title tag length is under 60 characters.
That length fits in Google’s search engine result pages (SERP). Anything longer will get cut off.
Search engines measure titles in pixels, not just characters, so conciseness is key.
Meta Description
The ideal meta description length is between 150-160 characters.
These snippets can appear under in search results.
Make it short and dense, with minimal fluff. Overly-long descriptions get cut off.
Press Release Length
The industry standard for a press release length is 300-500 words.
You want to convey essential information without overwhelming busy journalists.
If your release is long, you probably have two stories. Think strategically about a second release.
Homepage Copy Length
A website’s homepage should have at least 400-600 words.
This gives enough information for algorithms while still being user-friendly.
Be clear, not vague or fluffy. Incorporate vocabulary your target audiences uses in search.
Headline Length
A good headline length is between 5-8 words or roughly 60 characters.
Headlines for press releases, blogs, and articles often get used as the page title in search results. After about 60 characters it gets cut off.
Don’t forget to align headlines to topical keywords.
Blog & Article Length
A web blog or article should strive for 1,000 words or more.
Longer, in-depth content performs better.
Don’t cheat with filler words. The best content is thorough, dense, and doesn’t waste the reader’s time.
Author
Kaitlin Fohlin is a communications strategist. She oversees content optimization at Fohlin & Company, a boutique agency offering online discoverability and awareness services to enhance successful companies with expert growth guidance.
Article published September 2025.