Whether you're coding documentation, drafting a blog post, or polishing a conference talk outline, clarity in writing isn’t a luxury anymore — it’s the baseline.
The problem? It’s disturbingly easy to think your writing is clean, when in reality, it’s bloated with filler, off-tone, hard to skim, or even keyword-stuffed beyond readability.
I’ve been there. I’m still there sometimes. And I’ve tried all the hacks: Hemingway App, Google Docs word counts, browser extensions, SEO plugins… They each solve part of the problem. But nothing really gave me a full, immediate picture of my text — the structure, pacing, tone, SEO density, and reading level — all in one go.
That changed recently.
What Was Missing From My Workflow?
Let me paint a common scene:
I’m working on a blog post draft for DEV or Medium.
I paste it into a grammar checker to fix mistakes.
Then I copy it into another tool to check keyword density.
Then another one to estimate reading time.
Then manually count headings, scan for overused phrases, try to guess how it sounds out loud...
The fragmentation was killing my productivity — and honestly, messing with my confidence as a writer.
The Fix I Didn’t Know I Needed
Eventually, I found this free word and text analyzer that just does it all in one pass. And I’m not talking about a basic character count tool.
It actually shows:
Total words and characters live as you write.
Top 10 keywords with density percentages — no more keyword stuffing or awkward repetition.
Reading time and speaking time estimates, which is massively helpful for presentations, videos, or content aimed at accessibility.
Reading level — a rough but valuable indicator of whether your content is too academic, too simple, or just right for your audience.
AI writing support — which includes tools to rephrase, fix grammar, and even restyle the tone of your writing.
This kind of feature set is usually locked behind premium content platforms. But here, it’s free, instant, no login.
Real-World Impact on My Writing
I now use https://www.textwordcount.com/ in my content pipeline — especially before I hit publish on blog posts, product docs, or landing pages.
Here’s how it helps me:
If a blog post feels “off,” I check the keyword frequency — often I’m overusing a technical term.
When drafting conference talk scripts, I check the speaking time estimate to ensure I don’t go over.
If I’m writing for broader audiences, I use the reading level checker to avoid jargon or convoluted phrasing.
I often run it through the "optimize" or "paraphrase" features to clean up sections that sound too rigid or repetitive.
It’s become part of my QA process, the same way running prettier or eslint is part of my coding workflow.
Final Thought
Look — writing tools won’t make you a great writer. But the right ones will eliminate all the noise that gets in your way, so you can focus on your actual message.
If you're someone who juggles words for work — especially in a dev-heavy, content-heavy world — having a clean, fast, and intelligent writing assistant makes a measurable difference.
I recommend giving textwordcount.com a shot. Even if you don’t think you need it — that’s probably when you need it most.
Let me know what other tools or hacks help your content flow better. I’m always down to learn something new.
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