How can a cut and paste character count tool improve the usability of a website? It’s simple. We need to know how many characters wide our main reading content is to ensure our site is at an optimal width for reading.
How Wide?
Several studies suggest that optimal width in the number of characters for a website is between 75-100. This site is about 95.
There may be some variances (or arguments) in those findings, but another usability method to support the 75-100 character width is by giving users content in a way they are already used to getting it. Most top blogs and websites use, or are very close to using, this standard.
One of the top blogs today is TechCrunch. Their content reads at 95 characters wide, and so does my favorite blog Read Write Web. Mashable, probably the most popular blog today, runs at 115 characters max. Their home page runs at approximately 75 characters wide.
Even Google’s search results keep it under 100 characters wide. Here is a screenshot of their results maxing out at just under 100 characters wide.
Content needs to be wide enough to read a lot of content quickly, but short enough so the reader can easily spot the next line when they move their eyes back to the left.
Counting Characters
So, you could start counting the characters in your head, but it’s a lot easier to use the Cut and Paste Character Count by Javascript Kit. I work on many sites, so this is a tool I keep bookmarked, and even list it on this site under Web Services and Tools. Do you know how many characters wide your content is? Try to keep it between 75 and 100.
go paperless (4)
event entertainment (3)
Airport transfers... (1)
apartment cairns (1)
bauchband (1)
There’s such an underlying science that goes behind blogging. This is just one example of something that can be optimized. There is so much with a blog that can be optimized that it can make your head spin.
Recently Yaro changed his site layout for similar reasons. There’s just so many things that can be done to make the blogging experience more enjoyable and user-friendly both the blogger and the readers.
Till then,
Jean
Hi, thanks for giving this advice. I’ll be following this guide for my future articles. Happy Easter
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Hello, thanks for sharing this. I’ll be following this guide for my future articles.
reat tool. I now use it for form filling as wel .. some peep ask you keep the form text to max without restricting it .. with this you dont hva eto end removing charcters.
Thanks for the information you have provided here
There’s such an underlying science that goes behind blogging.
Do you have requirements for syndication of your content?I would be interested in translation of some of your sites content into Spanish for our sites viewers, and am interested in knowing what your opinion on this would be. I will of course include a link back to your site.
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I don’t necessarily know how “wide” my blog is, but I do try to keep my paragraphs relatively short, considering that a computer monitor can be a strain on the eye…
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Seems like a nice useful tool. I think for the sites for which Google shows more than 100 characters have a very good reputation online so may be the character length doesn’t matter for them.Anyways thanks..
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