An SMS character counter online is a great way to count characters online. The online character counter also allows you to count words online and even includes a word counter for those who need it.
In this post, I'll be talking about our SMS online character counter, what it is and how to use it.
An SMS message has 160 characters which will fit in one text box of most online chat services.
Here are some of my favorite social marketing tools:
What is an online character counter?
An online character counter will count the number of characters in a string. With one click, it can also count words online and even word lengths.
Sometimes online character counters can be difficult to find. This is because they are not needed when writing email messages and other online chat services, but it's helpful for online forums where you're limited on characters per post or a blog post with a word count goal.
Why would you need to do character counting for SMS?
Many online chat services offer a limit on the number of characters that can be sent in one message. If you're trying to send more than 160 characters, there are many online character counters (including this blog post) that will count your words for you so you don't have to worry about counting them manually which would take up time and possibly cause you to exceed your limit.
Here's why you should use it:
- To count characters - You may think that 160 characters for a text message is enough, but it might not be as efficient. When you use Unicode or GSM 03.38 symbols in your messages, the number of characters goes up by two and can break apart pieces of information if there are multiple such symbols contained within one string.
- To calculate your SMS cost - Estimate the cost of your text message before you send it. Choose which country to receive and then hit calculate, this will tell you how much the SMS is going to be so that way there are no surprises when your phone bill comes in!
Who is this SMS character counting tool for?
The online SMS character counting tool is for anyone who needs to count the characters in their messages. It's helpful online forums where you're limited on characters per post or a blog post with a word count goal.
- Business owners - online SMS character counters are perfect for marketing content on social media.
- Social Media Marketers - if you're tweeting, sharing photos, or just want to be able to send a message more than 160 characters long without receiving that annoying text size warning, online word counters will count your words so it doesn't go over the limit and save you from having to manually.
- Marketing Agencies - online SMS character counters are perfect for marketers who need to share online content that is limited by a word count.
- Product Managers - if you're working on copy, online SMS character counters can be used as an editing tool or just a way to know your work will fit the parameters of what's allowed in the medium it needs to live on.
What's a good way to use our online SMS character counting tool?
The text message length calculator is a simple tool that can tell you many things about a text message, such as the number of characters, type of characters used, and more.
Here’s how to use it:
- Copy and paste or write your text in the box at the top of this page.
- Scroll down to see the word count and online SMS character limit.
- Notice how we offer a preview of what your text will look like with our online SMS character counter? You can also click on any word underlined in blue to get more information about that word.
Which devices does the counter work on?
The online SMS character counter will work on any mobile device that has a web browser. This includes mobile phones and tablets.
We count online SMS character for all carriers including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and Virgin Mobile.
How can I reduce the length of my text message?
Don't let your message go over 160 characters. If you need to use special symbols like emoticons, replace them with a GSM equivalent instead of using Unicode or escape code sequences.
Long messages are bad news--if they exceed the limit for text messaging, then it's likely that the recipient will see "??????" and not know what was meant by such an incomplete message!
To ensure this doesn't happen to you when sending important information via SMS :
First, identify any long-character content in your draft (such as emojis) and convert those into their corresponding ASCII equivalents before pasting into your final copy; similarly, if there is no short-hand version available on mobile devices for other non-ASCII codes used online, then take the time to find a symbol online that can be used instead.
Second, decide what your intended message is and count the number of characters in each word to be sure that you are below the SMS limit.
Third, use online tools like our word counter or online character counter to know exactly how many words and characters your final copy will have before sending it!