Should you worry about the readability of your content?
Yes. Here’s why.
Readability is clear communication that avoids long sentences, too many syllables, and jargon.
It is more essential to writing than you may realize. There are many benefits to making your articles easier to read and understand.
The return on investment (ROI) is there.
Bad writing produces 40% of the cost of supervising business transactions, says William H. DuBay, a readability expert at Impact Information, in Working with Plain Language.
For example, FedEx, one of the world’s most popular delivery services companies, saved $400,000 per year by rewriting its operations manuals.
They made it 80% less time-consuming for users to find the information they were searching for.
Additionally, the United States Army rewrote a memo to 129 officers; those who received a more readable memo were twice as likely to act.
Readability will help you get more reads. You’ll get more shares via social media. And more people will read your article instead of just scanning it.
If you work hard to increase readability, you’ll make your copy easier to read, convince people to read more of your story, and help them understand it faster and remember it longer.
How do you measure your readability? You calculate it through a readability index.
What is a readability index?
A readability index estimates how hard copy is to read based on the text’s complexity level.
One of the most popular readability indexes is the Flesch Reading Ease Index. It was developed by Rudolf Flesch, an author and consultant who developed the formula in 1948.
It’s a simple formula to assess the United States grade level of a reader.
The index considers average sentence length and average number of syllables per word. Rudolf Flesch created it for the United States Navy to analyze their technical content such as instruction manuals.
There are tons of readability indexes, such as:
- Automated Readability Index
- Coleman Liau index
- Gunning Fog index
- Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) index
The bottom line is these readability indexes usually comprise two factors.
- sentence length (average number of words per sentence)
- word length (average number of syllables or characters per word)
Test your writing using readability indexes, and then aim for an 8th-grade reading level that is sophisticated and simplifies complex ideas.
Most adults in the United States read at this reading level. It is the best for the broadest audience and the best chance for you to gain the most readership.
How to improve readability of your content
In addition to writing at an eighth-grade reading level, you should consider these 10 things regarding readability.
1. Shorter sentences
Keep your sentences short. For example, my father always said, “See Spot Run” to me when I was growing up. Keep it short and straightforward.
If you have long sentences, break them up into two or three. Use the rule of thumb of one idea per sentence.
Start a new sentence if you are trying to write about multiple ideas.
2. Use shorter and more familiar words
Use words that are shorter when it comes to syllables. A syllable has one vowel sound when pronounced. For example, there are two syllables in the word water.
Use a two-word syllable word instead of a four-syllable word. Also, use familiar vocabulary.
For example, help is more well-known than facilitate, or the word happen is more easily recognized than transpire.
3. Avoid jargon
Jargon is a unique word used by a profession or group of people that is difficult to understand.
Many occupations use language that works for them but not the general public.
It’s essential to overcome the curse of knowledge with your writing and remember to serve your audience. That’s how you improve the readability of your content.
Replace jargon with terms that a person without special knowledge in a subject can understand.
4. Eliminate adjectives and adverbs
An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or pronoun. They are overused and add little value to a sentence.
These modification words require the brain to do more work and should be cut unless they are essential to the sentence’s meaning.
For example:
- Adjectives include enormous, silly, fun, many, or few words.
- Adverbs are words that modify a verb and help explain questions such as how, when, where, and to what extent, such as well, quickly, and softly.
5. Embrace white space
One of the best ways to make the text more readable is to break it up. Complex content is more reader-friendly with white space.
Feature one idea per paragraph and keep those paragraphs at four sentences max.
Try writing paragraphs with only one sentence, but don’t overdo it.
6. Write subheads
A strong headline and subheadline are essential to getting people to read your content. What is often overlooked is the subheads, which keep your readers engaged throughout the length of your content.
Subheads improve the readability of your content.
Review your content after you write it to see what readers and scanners will take away if they read some of your articles.
Treat your subheads as mini headlines to keep your readers moving and interested.
7. Insert hyperlinks
Adding helpful links to other content will keep people on your website or help guide your readers to read your best writing.
- External links demonstrate you have done your research on a topic and you are citing experts.
- Internal links help you add value for your readers. If they want to read other stories or delve deeper into a specific topic, they can click on the hyperlink to do so.
8. Use bullets
Bullets are an excellent way to help people understand your key points. They are easily scannable and look different from your regular text.
Bullets provide a visual break for your readers and improve the readability of your content.
9. Add numbers
Numbers work because they capture the attention of your readers. They keep your audience focused.
Our brains like to stay organized, and numbers are an effective way to ensure that your writing is understood.
10. Use reader-friendly fonts
Use fonts that are pleasing to the eye, such as Arial, Helvetica, and Open Sans.
These font types are not fancy, making your writing look more authoritative.
Bringing it all together
Improve the readability of your content to increase the chances of it being read and shared by more people.
Also, think about readability beyond the text and formatting.
Combining these two will make your content powerful and boost your chances of being seen and read by others.
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