Character Limits Cheat Sheet: Titles, Posts, SMS
Practical length limits for page titles, meta descriptions, social posts and SMS, how reading time is estimated and how to write to a limit.
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Almost every channel has a length limit, and most of them truncate silently. Knowing the numbers lets you write to fit instead of finding out after publishing.
Cheat sheet
| Where | Practical limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Page title (SEO) | About 50–60 characters | Truncation is by pixel width, not characters |
| Meta description | About 150–160 characters | Google may rewrite it anyway |
| X (Twitter) post | 280 characters | Links count as a fixed length |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 characters | Only the first ~200 show before "see more" |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 characters | First line matters most |
| SMS | 160 characters (GSM-7) / 70 (Unicode) | Longer messages are split into segments |
| Google Ads headline | 30 characters | Responsive ads have several |
| WhatsApp template body | Up to 1,024 characters | Per Meta's template rules |
Limits change; treat these as working numbers and check each platform's current documentation.
SMS and the Unicode trap
A plain-text SMS holds 160 characters. Add one emoji, an Arabic letter or certain symbols, and the whole message switches to Unicode encoding with a 70-character limit per segment — so a 150-character message can suddenly become three messages and cost three times as much. Test the final text.
How reading time is estimated
Average adult silent reading speed is roughly 200–250 words per minute, so tools commonly use about 238. Speaking speed is slower, around 130–150 words per minute. A 1,500-word article is therefore about a 6–7 minute read; a 5-minute talk is roughly 700 words.
Typical content lengths
- Product description: 50–150 words.
- Blog post: 800–2,000 words, depending on topic depth.
- Email: under 200 words for a single call to action.
- Cover letter: 250–400 words.
- Abstract: 150–250 words.
Length should follow what the reader needs, not a target. Search engines don't reward padding.
Writing to a limit
- Put the key words first. Truncation cuts the end.
- Cut qualifiers ("very", "really", "in order to").
- Use numerals (5 instead of five) and standard abbreviations where clear.
- Prefer active voice — it's shorter.
- Write the full version first, then trim.
- Check on mobile, where truncation is often harsher.
Keyword repetition
A most-used-words list is a quick editing aid: it shows repeated filler and whether your main topic word appears naturally. Don't chase a "keyword density" percentage — write for people and make sure the topic is clear.
Check your text
The free Word & Character Counter counts words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences and paragraphs, estimates reading and speaking time, shows a progress bar against a limit you choose (title, meta description, X post, SMS and more) and lists your most-used words. Preview how a title and description appear in search with the SERP Preview and read how to write title tags and meta descriptions. Tag your links with the UTM Link Builder.
Content that ranks and converts
Pyalm builds search-ready websites with content structure, performance and tracking in place — see website development or talk to us.