Typing Speed Test

A typing speed test is a test that measures the number of words and characters you can type per minute. In addition to speed, typing tests also measure spelling accuracy.

Average typing speeds vary from industry to industry, however, the average typing speed for a professional typist is between 65 – 70 WPM.

The abbreviation WPM stands for words per minute. Whenever you’re taking a typing test, you should aim to type between 65 – 70 words per minute.

The CPM is the number of characters that you type per minute, including all your mistakes.

Asking potential and existing employees to take typing speed tests can help improve productivity, customer satisfaction, and in turn revenue. The faster your employees can resolve customer issues, the more satisfied your customers will be. In turn, high customer satisfaction rates will improve your retention rates and revenue.

Typing speeds are important in customer service because the faster a support agent can type, the more tickets they can answer. This decreases ticket loads, improves productivity, and improves customer satisfaction.

Learning keyboard shortcuts once you’ve mastered the basics of typing can help you improve productivity and efficiency because they reduce the number of clicks you have to make to execute certain functions.

You should test your typing speed at least once a month. Because the accuracy and speed of your typing is dependant on muscle memory, it’s good to train it and practice with randomly generated words that are generated in typing tests.

Typing speed matters because it indicates how fast and accurately you can type. Many businesses use typing speed as a benchmark to figure out if you’d be a good fit for certain typist positions such as customer service representative, secretary, or note taker.

The best way to practice typing faster is to do typing tests over and over. At first, it’s important to focus on your muscle memory, finger placement, and to prioritize accuracy over speed. Over time, as your muscle memory adjusts and you hit the correct keys when typing, you can start shifting your focus on to speed.

LiveAgent’s typing test is free. We wanted to create a tool that you can use over and over to practice and perfect your typing skills.

There’s no ideal keyboard/finger alignment. However, your fingers should feel comfortable with their position on the keyboard. It can help to curve your fingers slightly and place your hands down lightly, so they are ready to move.

If you want to maintain accuracy and type fast at the same time, it’s important to refrain from looking at your keyboard, and instead, trust your senses and muscle memory. If you start looking at the keyboard, your fingers can fall out of sync.

Not every employer will care about your typing speed, however, if you’re applying for a job that revolves around typing, your typing speed can be a deal-breaker. Generally, customer support representatives, secretaries, copywriters, or clerks need to have average or above-average typing speed to be considered for the job.