How to Use an Online Character Counter

The digital transformation of writing has also led to the evolution of being aware of your character count.

16:37 06 January 2022

We are all authors in our own right. We write daily text messages. We write emails. We write social media posts.

 

But writing has evolved so much over the years. Back in the day, we would all learn to write with the traditional pen and paper. It would not matter how many pieces of paper you used and character counters were not even a thing.

 

However, just as technology has evolved over the years, so has the way we write. Now, we do the majority of our writing—if not all of our writing—online. The digital transformation of writing has also led to the evolution of being aware of your character count.

 

The number of characters used in a piece of writing can now directly impact how a website page will look or how appealing your content will be to readers. In fact, character count can even have an impact on your website’s SEO performance.

 

Whatsmore is that many social media platforms also limit the number of characters you can use on various posts.

 

On Twitter, it used to be the notorious 140 character limit. But as people have gotten more opinionated and more pressure got put on the platform, they boosted it up to 280 characters. Other social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook allow for much larger character counts, with Instagram allowing 2,200 characters and Facebook allowing over 63,000. However, it is important to know that the best performing content does not max out the limit. Instead, it is often quality over quantity. Which is exactly what an online character counter aims to help you do.

 

So if you are wanting to make sure that your writing is maximized online, performs well with algorithms and is engaging to the readers you have written it for, then an online character counter is for you. Designed to tell you exactly how many characters you have both with and without spaces, you will be able to post whatever you want knowing you will always be within the limit.

 

But how do you use an online character counter? A new concept to many, we have rounded up the top tips for you to consider so that you can use this useful tool to its maximum potential.

 

1. First, know it is free

Yes. That is the first thing to know. You do not have to pay a cent to use. Because we all deserve to use the online world to our full potential, there are no upfront fees or hidden costs to discover how many characters are in your writing. So there really is no reason to not use this amazing online tool, as it not only benefits your writing but is absolutely free for you to use.

 

2. Know the difference between character count and word count

The second thing to recognize when using the character count tool is that you double check that the character count is actually being counted. Depending on what digital tool you are using, you can be given the option to have both your characters and words counted. These are not the same. A word counter counts the actual number of words used, where character counters count everything from letters, punctuation marks, numbers and even spaces if desired.

 

3. Write your text first, then refine and adjust

To get your character count, we recommend first writing your copy on a word document or digital notepad on your computer. Then after you have written it all down, you can simply copy and paste your content into the digital character counter for instant results. These results will tell you if you are within or outside the character limit for the various platforms you are wanting to post on. This will help you finesse your copy and revise it accordingly. You will get real-time results as to what your character count is as you edit your copy so you know when you are getting close to your limit.

 

4. Check your grammar

Finally, the last thing you will want to be aware of is the language you are writing in. The character counter doubles as a spell checker. This is great because you can double check your copy is free of any silly spelling errors before posting online. One of the biggest things people get hassled for on social media is their grammatical errors. But with the character counter tool, you do not have to worry about posting anything but a perfect copy with the perfect character count.

 

Using a character counter is easy, free and will help your content perform better online!