What’s Your Website’s Readability Score – You May Be Surprised!
How readable is your web copy or text? If your copy is too dense or it requires a PhD to understand then you’re in trouble.
That’s because the online consumer is very impatient and often distracted.
So if your typical reader needs to reread your copy to understand what you mean then many of your readers simply won’t do it.
What they probably will do instead is click-away and leave.
Now, you know that web traffic is gold. So what can you do to persuade people to STAY on your website and take some meaningful action?
A SIMPLE ANSWER…
Increase the readability score from X/100 to around 60-70/100…
According to Wikipedia a readability test indicates how easy a text is to read and the type of reader who will understand it clearly.
Generally it’s good to use short words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. Many copywriters agree that paragraphs should be no more than 5 sentences each.
Don’t be afraid to use one-word paragraphs to make reading more inviting.
Short paragraphs work.
But be sure to vary the length of your sentences, otherwise your message will become repetitive and boring.
Let’s go back to the readability tests… There are several readability tests that can help you make your text more readable! Those tests may help you identify bottlenecks and choke-points in your copy. Here’s a list of some of the most popular ones:
Readability Tests
• Automated Readability Index (ARI)
A rendition of the Raygor Graph
• Dale-Chall Readability Formula
• Flesch-Kincaid readability tests:
- Flesch Reading Ease
- Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level
• Lexile Framework for Reading
• SMOG (Simple Measure Of Gobbledygook)
The Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease score indicates how easy a text is to read. A high score implies an easy text. For example, comic books typically score around 85+ and academic prose can get a score below 15.
The Flesch-Kincaid Grade level indicates the grade of education a person will have to have reached to be able to understand the text. For example, a grade level of 6 means that a typical sixth grader will be able to understand the text.
Would a 6th grader get it?
Most sales copywriting needs to be simple enough so a 6th grader can read it without stumbling.
According to The Readability Tool my home page currently has an average grade level of about eight. That’s fine for a home page.
This readability calculator comes with a handy option. It shows you HOW to make your text more readable.
Text Content Analysis Tool comes with a useful Word Frequency Cloud…
The website explains: “The word frequency cloud shows each word in a bigger or smaller text size, depending on how many times it is found in the text. The bigger the word, the more frequently it occurs. Very common words have been removed to allow you to see the key words in the text. Note: The results work better with longer texts.”
Interesting.
Remember, always try to make it easy for people to do business with you.
So, what’s your website’s readability score?
Making your copy readable should be your top priority.
