The Benefits of Readability

How important is readability?  

Readability is an important factor in producing quality content. It influences Google ranking, as well as accessibility, usability and UX. In addition, it inspires trust in your reader, enhancing your brand. 

Every industry benefits from readability. We have a wide range of customers who see results from improving their readability. For example, in eCommerce, good readability improves conversion rates or cart completion rates. In government, it reduces citizen enquiries, saving time and money. 

Plain language has and continues to influence public policy. Laws have been passed which increase the obligation to communicate transparently. This gives it a wider societal impact. 

Are readability scores effective?

Readability scores are effective because they grade your content and give you a benchmark to work toward. However, many tools only provide high-level feedback. 

Traditional readability scores often rely on word and sentence length. This can result in missing the semantics – the meaning of your words. This is a common pitfall. Your words could be short, but obscure, making it hard for the reader. A traditional score would not pick this up. 

The best way to improve your readability is to look for readability software that has a holistic approach to analysis. 

Advantages of using readability formulas

• Readability formulas measure the reading level your audience has to be to easily understand your text. They give you valuable information about how to reach your target audience
  
  
• You can provide value to your readers. By optimising your text for plain language, you’re making your text: 
  • Quicker to read
  • Easier to understand
  • Easier to retain
    
    
• Improving your readability saves you time and money. You reduce the time and resources spent on answering questions
  
  
• Google loves content that is user-friendly. The easier it is for the user to find an answer, the higher you’ll rank. Each Google update makes SEO more user-focused. Choose readability and you can train yourself to write for the human. Not the search engine. That’s how you’ll get real results

Does readability affect SEO?

Yes, readability is a vital part of improving your SEO. Sentence length and readability have a direct impact on time on page. In general, Google favours content that is:

• High quality 
• Concise and easy to understand

In addition, readability has an impact on bounce rate. This is because users are goal-oriented. It is human nature to want to find the answer to a question as quickly and efficiently as possible. By improving your readability, you’re helping your audience reach their goal. 

If you answer a query efficiently, you’re also more likely to get a featured snippet on Google. 

Advantages of using Readable

Readable digs deeper. We detect the use of jargon. We also analyse the tone, sentiment and formality of your text. With this holistic approach, you’ll feel confident with your results. 

We then give you actionable insight and useful guidance to improve your writing.

Readable uses a combination of all the relevant formulas in one place. This provides all the scores you need. To complement the results and make them easier to understand we have created a bespoke metric. Our A—E grade. This improves user experience. It also enables you to have conversations with your team about improving your content.

We also highlight your text so you can easily see where it needs work. You’ll get help in the form of tooltips in-app to help you edit. Using Readable, you can watch your content improve in real-time. As well as the second pair of eyes, we’re your helping hand, too. 

How to check readability on Readable

By using a readability checker, you can join the best companies using readability as a vital part of their brand voice. You could have a glance over your text and do a quick evaluation manually. But this method can be unreliable as it doesn’t give you an objective score. It’s also time-consuming. Checking your readability with Readable is as easy as 1, 2, 3: 

1. Firstly, check what type of content you’re dealing with. If it’s a document, you can use our file uploader in ReadableDocs. If you’re evaluating a program or CMS, you can integrate Readable into your workflow with ReadableAPI. If you have a whole website to audit, we make this easy for you with ReadableWeb. We have a range of trial options available, including a free website readability report.
   
   
2. Once you’ve imported your content, you can easily find all the scores you need. The most widely used readability score is the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level. Readable takes into account modern text components, such as bullet points and line breaks, so you’ll get the most accurate score. We also have a bespoke letter grading system of A — E. This means you can share this with your team to communicate a score that can be instantly understood.
   
   
   
   
3. Our highlighting, as well as our sidebar showing hotspots in your content, appears on your text. This makes it easy for you to systematically work through your content and make improvements. We give you specific suggestions on how to improve your readability score. This includes reducing adverbs, using the active voice, clicking our shorter word suggestions, and shortening your sentences.