Why word count still matters

Almost every writing brief comes with a number attached. Meta descriptions get cut around 155 characters, a tweet stops at 280, university essays have hard limits, and most editors will hand back anything that runs 20% long. Knowing where you stand while you write is far cheaper than cutting 400 words after the fact.

Reading time is the number your audience feels. A 1,600-word article is roughly seven minutes of someone\u2019s attention, and that is a real thing to ask for. If the count says twelve minutes and the topic does not deserve twelve minutes, that is useful information before you publish rather than after.

Reading the keyword strip

The keyword strip ignores common filler words and shows the six terms you repeat most, with a percentage of the total. There is no magic density figure to hit \u2014 search engines stopped rewarding that a long time ago. What the strip is good for is catching accidental repetition: the same verb four times in one section, or a product name so frequent the page reads like a brochure.

If one term sits far above the rest and it is not your actual subject, that is usually a sign the draft has drifted.