A word count SEO checker that counts only the content
Paste a link into this word count SEO checker and it counts the words in the page’s main content — the article or product copy — rather than every word in the HTML. Menus, the site header, cookie notices, share buttons, sidebars, related-post lists and the footer are recognised and left out, and each excluded block is listed with its word count, so you can see exactly what was and wasn’t counted.
Alongside the count you get reading time, paragraphs and sentences, Flesch Reading Ease and grade level for the body text, the most-used words and two-word phrases, density for a keyword you choose, internal and external links, and images that have no alt text. It suits content audits, competitor comparisons and checking a writer’s draft once it is live.
How to count the words on a web page
- Enter the Page address — or switch to Paste HTML for a page that isn’t public.
- Optionally add a Keyword to check; you can change it afterwards without fetching again.
- Press Count words. The headline figure is Words of main content, next to the word count of the whole page.
- Open Main content and boilerplate to see each block that was left out and the exact text that was counted.
- Work through the prioritised list, the readability figures, the term tables and the links-and-images table.
Word Count SEO Checker features
Main content, not the whole template
Uses <main> or <article> when the page marks it, otherwise a readability-style score that favours blocks of real paragraphs with few links.
Boilerplate shown, not hidden
Every excluded block is labelled — navigation, header, cookie notice, share buttons, sidebar, related links, footer — with its word count and opening words.
Readability you can compare
Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch–Kincaid grade with exactly the syllable rules of the Readability Checker.
Terms, phrases and keyword density
Top single words and two-word phrases with stop words removed; phrases never jump across a sentence break.
Links and alt text
Internal, external and nofollow links in the content and the whole page, plus images missing alt attributes.
How the numbers are calculated
- Words: runs of letters or digits; hyphenated words and contractions count once (“full-grain”, “don’t”). Scripts, styles and hidden template code are never counted.
- Reading time: words ÷ 238 per minute, the average silent reading speed for adults also used by the Word Counter.
- Flesch Reading Ease = 206.835 − 1.015 × (words ÷ sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables ÷ words), on the body text without headings. Flesch–Kincaid grade = 0.39 × (words ÷ sentences) + 11.8 × (syllables ÷ words) − 15.59.
- Density = occurrences ÷ (words − phrase length + 1) × 100, the same as the Keyword Density Checker.
Worked example
A gardening article has 106 words in its HTML. Of those, 8 are in a cookie notice, 4 in the header and menu, 3 in a share box, 6 in a related-posts sidebar and 7 in the footer, which leaves 76 words of main content — about 19 seconds of reading.
Its body text (headings removed) is 65 words in 10 sentences with 78 syllables: 206.835 − 1.015 × 6.5 − 84.6 × 1.2 = 98.7, “very easy”. “Cherry tomatoes” appears 3 times, so its density is 3 ÷ 75 = 4.00% — but in a text this short, three natural mentions are fine, and the checker only warns about heavy use at five or more.
Is there an ideal word count for SEO?
No. Google has said that word count is not a ranking factor, and length studies only show that pages which rank well tend to cover their topics thoroughly — not that adding words makes a page rank. A recipe, a product page or a tool can be complete in 300 words; a buying guide may need 3,000.
Use the count to compare your page with the pages that currently rank, to spot thin pages where the HTML holds almost no text (often because JavaScript loads it), and to check that the template isn’t outweighing the content.
Word Count SEO Checker FAQ
How do I count the words on a web page?
Enter its address in this word count SEO checker and press Count words. You get the main-content word count with menus and footers left out, plus the whole-page total for comparison.
Why is the count lower than my word processor showed?
Probably because captions, author boxes or calls to action were classed as boilerplate, or because text appears only after JavaScript runs. Open “Text counted as main content” to see what was included.
Why is the count higher than I expected?
If the page has no main or article element, the content area is guessed from paragraph density, and some neighbouring text may be included. Each left-out block is listed so you can judge.
What is a good Flesch Reading Ease score?
For general web content, 60 or higher (plain English). Technical and academic pages often score lower, which is fine for specialist readers.
Does this word count SEO checker work in other languages?
Word counts, terms and links work in any language. Readability formulas and the stop-word list are designed for English, so treat those figures as rough elsewhere.
Can it check pages behind a login?
Not by address — the fetcher has no cookies. Copy the page source and paste it into the Paste HTML tab instead.