Does an emoji count as 1 or 2 characters?

Technically 2-4 (UTF-16 surrogate pairs). But most platforms count it as 1 visually. Our counter follows display convention (1 emoji = 1 visible char).

Do line breaks count?

Yes. \n is 1 character. \r\n (Windows) is 2. On social, factor this in when using line breaks for aesthetics.

Is it better to max out the limit or stay concise?

Concise almost always wins. Twitter data shows 70-100 char tweets get more engagement than 280. LinkedIn the same (1,300 vs 3,000). The limit is a ceiling, not a target.

What unicode does the counter use?

Unicode characters (code points), not bytes. Accents count as 1 char (not 2 like UTF-8 byte count). Matches what platforms display.

Tutorial · characterCounter

Character limits on social media and SEO (2026)

One char too many cuts the post in the timeline. One too few leaves space unused. Here's the 2026 table, plus a counter you can use as you write.

4 min readUpdated on April 27, 2026

Every social platform and every SEO element has a specific limit. Going over = automatic truncation with "...". Way under = you didn't use the space for context. The table below is the current 2026 state — verify before any major scheduling pass.

SEO limits (Google + other engines)

Title tag: 50-60 characters (Google cuts at ~600px, ~60 chars). Sweet spot: 55. Put the keyword in the first 30.
Meta description: 150-155 characters. Doesn't pass ranking weight but hits CTR. Write it like ad copy.
URL slug: 3-5 words (~60 chars total). See our SEO-friendly URLs guide.
Image alt text: 100-125 characters. Descriptive, not keyword-stuffed.
Open Graph title: 60-65 characters (LinkedIn cuts before Facebook).
Open Graph description: 200 characters (Facebook cuts at ~300, LinkedIn at ~200).

Twitter/X

Tweet: 280 characters. Premium (X Premium): 25,000.
Bio: 160 characters.
Display name: 50 characters.
DM: 10,000 characters.

Instagram

Feed caption: 2,200 characters. But only the first 125 show before "see more".
Bio: 150 characters.
Hashtags per post: up to 30 (but 5-10 performs better).
Story text sticker: ~250 characters per sticker.

Feed post: 3,000 characters. Engagement drops past ~1,300.
Headline (profile title): 220 characters.
About (summary): 2,600 characters.
Comment: 1,250 characters.

Facebook

Post: 63,206 characters (technical limit). Engagement drops DRAMATICALLY past 80 chars.
Bio: 101 characters.
Comment: 8,000 characters.
Ad headline: 40 characters recommended (Facebook Ads).

TikTok, YouTube and others

TikTok caption: 2,200 characters (but the video is what matters).
YouTube title: 100 characters (truncates at 70 in search).
YouTube description: 5,000 characters (first 157 appear as snippet).
YouTube tags: 500 characters total across all tags.
Pinterest pin description: 500 characters.
Reddit title: 300 characters.
WhatsApp status: 700 characters.

Reading time — quick reference

Average silent reading speed in English for adults: 220 words/minute. Natural narration speaking speed: 130 words/minute. Use this to estimate podcast length, narrated video duration, or blog post reading time.

100 words = 27s reading, 46s speaking
500 words = 2m 16s reading, 3m 51s speaking
1,000 words = 4m 33s reading, 7m 42s speaking
2,000 words = 9m 5s reading, 15m 23s speaking

Frequently asked questions

Occasionally. Twitter/X doubled from 140 to 280 in 2017 and added long tweets (premium) in 2024. LinkedIn has been adjusting post limits in recent years. Verify before major campaigns.

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