"Write five pages" and "keep it under 650 words" are the same kind of instruction, but converting between pages, words, and characters trips everyone up at least once. This page collects the standard conversions and the real-world limits - school, publishing, and web - so you can check any target in ten seconds, then verify your own text with a live word counter.
Words Per Page: The Standard Conversions
These figures assume the academic default - 12 pt Times New Roman, 1-inch margins, US Letter or A4. Fonts change the math: Arial runs about 10% fewer words per page than Times New Roman at the same size, and bumping to 14 pt cuts roughly 25%.
| Word count | Pages, single spaced | Pages, double spaced |
|---|---|---|
| 250 words | ½ page | 1 page |
| 500 words | 1 page | 2 pages |
| 1,000 words | 2 pages | 4 pages |
| 1,500 words | 3 pages | 6 pages |
| 2,500 words | 5 pages | 10 pages |
| 5,000 words | 10 pages | 20 pages |
Rule of thumb: 500 words per single-spaced page, 250 per double-spaced page. If an assignment says "5 pages, double spaced", aim for about 1,250 words.
Typical Lengths, From Essays to Novels
| Format | Typical word count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| High-school essay | 300–1,000 | The classic 5-paragraph essay is ~500–800 |
| Common App essay | 250–650 (hard cap) | The form rejects word 651; most essays run 500–650 |
| College term paper | 1,500–5,000 | 6–20 pages double spaced |
| Blog post | 1,000–2,500 | Top-ranking pages usually fall in this band |
| Short story | 1,000–7,500 | Under 1,000 is usually called flash fiction |
| Novella | 17,500–40,000 | Animal Farm is ~30,000 words |
| Novel | 70,000–120,000 | Debut fiction sweet spot is 80,000–100,000; fantasy runs longer |
Publishing agents take these ranges seriously: a 40,000-word "novel" or a 200,000-word debut both make querying dramatically harder. For school work, staying within about 10% of the stated target is the usual safe zone unless the instructor says otherwise.
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Words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and reading time - updated as you type, nothing leaves your browser
Open the Word Counter →When Characters Matter More Than Words
On the web, several limits are measured in characters (spaces included), not words - and being over the limit means getting cut off mid-sentence:
- Page title tag: ~60 characters. Google truncates titles by pixel width, which works out to roughly 55-60 characters before the "..." appears in search results.
- Meta description: ~155 characters. Descriptions around 150-160 characters usually display in full on desktop; mobile can clip closer to 120.
- Tweets/X posts: 280 characters for standard accounts - and links always count as 23 characters regardless of their real length.
- SMS: 160 characters per message segment (or just 70 if you include an emoji or non-Latin characters, which switch the encoding).
- LinkedIn posts: 3,000 characters, but only the first ~200 show before the "see more" fold.
A live character count with spaces is exactly what the Word Counter shows alongside words, so you can paste a meta description or tweet draft and trim it on the spot.
The Reading-Time Math
Reading-time badges ("7 min read") come from one division: adults read non-fiction silently at about 240 words per minute on average. So:
- 600-word news article → 600 ÷ 240 ≈ 2.5 minutes
- 1,200-word blog post → 5 minutes
- 90,000-word novel → 375 minutes ≈ 6¼ hours
Speaking is slower: presentations and speeches run around 130-150 words per minute, so a 5-minute talk is only about 700 words - a common shock for first-time speakers who write 1,500. The Word Counter calculates both reading and speaking time for you, which makes it easy to trim a speech to fit its slot before you rehearse.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many words is one page, double spaced?▼
About 250-300 words in 12 pt Times New Roman with standard 1-inch margins. Single spaced, the same page holds roughly 500-600 words. So a "5-page double-spaced essay" is asking for about 1,250-1,500 words.
Does the Common App essay limit count characters or words?▼
Words. The Common App personal essay allows 250-650 words, and the form enforces the cap - it will not accept word 651. Most successful essays land in the 500-650 range; there is no bonus for hitting exactly 650.
Do word counters count hyphenated words as one word or two?▼
Most counters, including Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and our word counter, treat anything between spaces as one word - so "mother-in-law" counts as one. Numbers ("2026") and standalone symbols count as words too. Different tools can disagree by a fraction of a percent, which is why official limits are enforced by the submission form itself.
How long should a blog post be for SEO?▼
There is no magic number - Google ranks usefulness, not length. That said, studies of top-ranking pages consistently find most winners in the 1,000-2,500 word range, simply because thoroughly answering a query tends to take that much. Write until the question is answered, then stop.
How accurate are reading-time estimates?▼
They are averages: adults read non-fiction silently at roughly 240 words per minute, so a 1,200-word article shows "5 min read". Technical material can drop real speed below 150 wpm, and skimming can triple it. Treat reading time as a courtesy signal for readers, not a precise measurement.
Count Every Word as You Write
Paste or type your draft and watch words, characters, sentences, and reading time update live - free, private, in your browser.
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