Readability Score Is Every Writer’s Secret Weapon. 3 Tips on How You Can Improve It
Here’s everything about readability scores and how you can leverage it to improve your content for better engagement.
You just wrote a new article for your blog. You put a lot of effort into keyword research, wrote an attention-grabbing headline, and even included backlinks with a high domain rank. You implemented all those tedious and complicated SEO techniques. And you are getting the right number of views.
But your visitors are not reading your blog! You feel like all your hard work is in vain.
Yes, that happens! You may get a lot of views/impressions on your articles but if your visitors aren’t reading the blog and engaging with it, the views won’t matter!
We all know, there’s more to writing than following SEO techniques. It’s not just about getting views; you need people to actually read your content.
Content that is easy to read gets read.
But what are the metrics that help us understand if our content is readable? Like SEO techniques, are there any “Get-visitors-to-read-your-blog” techniques? Yes! And here’s where the readability score comes into the picture.
Tip: The easier your content is to read, the more time people spend reading. The more time people spend reading, the more likely they are to engage with your content.Wait, what is a readability score?
Short answer: It is a metric that measures whether a piece of writing is appropriate for a given audience. It checks how complex your vocabulary, sentence structure, and paragraph construction are.
Readability score gives you that extra information to check whether your articles are readable enough. The higher the readability score, the easier the text.
Why should I worry about it?
#1 Reason: At its core, readability is about believability. It’s how well your writing makes the reader feel like they could be speaking to a real person. And believability is important! Whether you’re blogging or writing ad copies, believability is what sets you apart from the crowd.
#2 Reason: The human attention span is dropping. Research shows that you only have 7 seconds¹ to make a good first impression with a reader. This is not enough time, especially if your content is complicated. It’s not your fault! We were taught to believe complexity is intelligence. But when it comes to writing, that’s far from true.
Tell me more about this science of readability
Let’s go into some more detail about why readability is important and how to measure it. The 3 factors that affect your readability score are:
- The average number of words per sentence
- The average number of letters per word
- The frequency of passive and complex sentence constructions
The scores are measured from zero to 100. A zero score means the text is complicated, and a 100 score means the text can be easily understood. Basically, the higher the years of schooling required to understand text, the lower its grade level.
There are 7 different levels. Below is a score table for your reference. These numbers give you an idea of how difficult a passage in your text is to read.
Online tools to check readability scores
Several web-based tools can test the readability of your content. Of the lot, my absolute favorite is the Hemingway App Editor. Hemingway Editor measures your readability score and points out the problem areas in your text. It is intuitive and easy to use.
I also use Readable to edit my content. You may use this tool to measure the readability of your blog posts, website, emails, etc.
Grammarly also offers readability scores. But honestly, I’ve never been entirely satisfied with Grammarly’s readability results.
Okay, but how can I improve my readability score?
Simple, write as if you are talking to a friend.
When you finish writing, run your article through a Text-to-Speech program. Does your writing sound too fancy? Are you able to understand it easily? If yes, you are good to publish!
I’ve put together a list of tips that will help you improve your readability scores. I tried blending the tips based on my own experience. Let’s check them out:
1. Use short sentences and paragraphs
Paragraph length is an important factor when it comes to having higher or lower scores. This is because most people skim through your content. The shorter the paragraph, the greater the likelihood that people will read it all.
The same logic applies to the length of your sentences. Instead of using semicolons and em-dashes, divide your sentences.
2. Keep it crisp and intuitive
No one cares about your writing style as long as they understand what you’re trying to say.
Forget about 1500 word articles that claim to fetch the best SEO results. Remember, we spoke about this earlier. If the visitors aren’t reading your articles, there’s no point in getting a thousand views. Besides, most viral articles are around 500 words. So, unless you have something valuable to add, keep your articles crisp.
3. Avoid using too many adjectives
Avoid adjectives as much as possible. If you must use an adjective, try to limit the number.
Next time you write an article, keep these tips in mind. Make sure to check its readability score before you hit that Publish button.
In summary:
Writing is not just about getting views; you need people to actually read your content.
Readability is a metric that measures whether a piece of writing is appropriate for a given audience. The higher the readability score, the easier the text. Several web-based tools can test the readability of your content. Hemingway App and Readable.com are my two favorite tools. You can improve your readability score by following these 3 tips:
- Use short sentences and paragraphs
- Keep your content crisp and intuitive
- Avoid using too many adjectives
