Word Count, Reading Time, and Readability: A Writer's Guide

Word count seems simple — it's just counting words. But behind the number are a surprising number of practical questions: How long will this take to read? Is it the right length? Is it readable? This guide answers all of them.

How Reading Time Is Calculated

Reading time is derived from word count and average reading speed. Research on adult reading speed consistently shows:

Average silent reading speed: 200–250 words per minute (wpm)
Fast reader: 300–400 wpm
Technical/complex content: 150–200 wpm (readers slow down)

Most tools (including Medium, Notion, and ours) use 200–238 wpm as the default, which tends to underestimate for fast readers but is conservative enough to be widely useful.

Formula:

Reading time (minutes) = Word count ÷ Reading speed (wpm)

For a 1,000-word article at 238 wpm: 1000 ÷ 238 ≈ 4.2 minutes

Adjustments for real content

Pure word-count reading time assumes continuous prose. Real articles also include: - Images: add ~10–12 seconds per image - Code blocks: readers scan code, typically at ~50 wpm - Tables: typically slower than prose - Lists: faster than dense paragraphs

For a data-heavy technical post, the actual reading time may be 1.5–2× the word-count estimate.

Ideal Word Count by Content Type

Word count requirements vary significantly by purpose:

Content type	Typical range	Notes
Tweet / social post	10–280 chars	Tight constraint
Email subject line	6–10 words	Mobile preview: ~40 chars
Email body	50–200 words	For transactional; newsletters can be longer
Blog intro paragraph	30–80 words	Hook, then move on
Short blog post	600–1,000 words	Good for news/updates
Standard blog post	1,000–1,500 words	Most common for informational content
Comprehensive guide	2,000–4,000 words	Targets search engine rankings
Academic paper	4,000–8,000 words	Field-dependent
Novel chapter	1,500–5,000 words	Genre-dependent

SEO note: Longer isn't always better. A 600-word answer that perfectly addresses the query will outrank a 3,000-word article that paddles around the topic.

Readability Scores

Readability metrics estimate how difficult text is to read. The most common:

Flesch Reading Ease

206.835 − (1.015 × avg sentence length) − (84.6 × avg syllables per word)

Score	Level	Notes
90–100	Very easy	Comic books, simple children's text
70–90	Easy	Consumer-facing content, popular fiction
60–70	Standard	Plain English standard (aim for this in marketing)
50–60	Fairly difficult	Academic journals
30–50	Difficult	Professional/technical writing
0–30	Very difficult	Legal documents

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level

Converts the same variables to a US school grade level:

0.39 × avg sentence length + 11.8 × avg syllables per word − 15.59

A score of 8 means the text is readable at US 8th grade level.

Gunning Fog Index

0.4 × (avg sentence length + percent of "complex" words)

Where "complex" words have 3+ syllables. A Fog Index of 12 corresponds to US high school graduate level.

Which score to use?

For most web writing, target Flesch Reading Ease 60–70 (Standard). The rule of thumb: if a 12-year-old can read it, most adults can too.

Practical Writing Targets

For SEO and blog content

Title: 50–60 characters (fits in Google search results without truncation)
Meta description: 150–160 characters
First paragraph: introduce the topic and key point in under 80 words
Headings: every 200–300 words to break up scanning

For email marketing

Subject line: 6–10 words, front-load the key point
Preview text: 40–130 characters (what shows in inbox)
Body: 50–200 words for transactional; up to 500 for newsletters

For social media

Platform	Optimal post length
Twitter/X	71–100 characters (despite 280-char limit)
LinkedIn	150–300 characters for text posts
Instagram caption	138–150 characters before "more" truncation
Facebook	40–80 characters

Common Writing Mistakes Revealed by Word Count

Too long: If you're consistently over 2,500 words for "simple" blog posts, you're likely padding. Check if each section earns its place.

Too short: If guides are under 600 words, you may be leaving reader questions unanswered. Word count is a proxy for completeness, not quality.

Dense paragraphs: If your average sentence is over 25 words, break it up. The Hemingway App is useful for this.

Passive voice overuse: Word counters can flag passive constructions. Active voice is almost always clearer.

The "Right" Length

The right length is whatever it takes to fully answer the reader's question — no more, no less. Word count is a diagnostic tool, not a target. If you've covered everything in 800 words, stop at 800.

Count words and estimate reading time: Word Counter →