What your results actually mean, and a few things that genuinely move your score.
home row
Left fingers on A S D F, right fingers on J K L ; — the raised notches on F and J are your anchors.
Return each finger to its home-row key after every press. When you need a capital letter, press Shift with the hand that isn't typing the letter, so both hands stay ready.
what your results mean
WPM
Correct characters ÷ 5, minus a penalty for uncorrected errors. This is the number most typing tests report.
Raw WPM
Same calculation, but counting every character you typed — mistakes included. The gap between Raw and WPM shows how much accuracy is costing you.
Accuracy
The percentage of your keystrokes that were correct. 95%+ is a solid target; professional typists usually sit at 98%+.
Consistency
How steady your speed was second to second. Bursting and stalling lowers this even if your average speed is fine.
CPM (characters per minute) is WPM × 5. KPH (keystrokes per hour), sometimes asked for in data-entry job listings, is CPM × 60 — 60 WPM works out to 18,000 KPH.
what's a good WPM
Beginner20–35 wpm
Developing35–55 wpm
Average55–70 wpm
Fast70–90 wpm
Advanced90–120 wpm
Elite120+ wpm
Most office workers land around 40 wpm; comfortable touch typists are usually in the 60–80 range.
getting faster
Accuracy first. Typing fast but wrong trains the wrong muscle memory and costs more speed than slowing down would.
Don't look down. Every glance at the keyboard reinforces hunt-and-peck instead of touch typing.
Read a word ahead. Most lost time is the pause between words, not the words themselves.
Short daily sessions beat occasional long ones for building real muscle memory.
Notice your weak keys and drill those specifically instead of retaking full tests.