Readers, regardless of their education level, want more straightforward writing. Never think that writing in long sentences and using complicated vocabulary will make you sound more professional or intelligent. Instead, you sacrifice the credibility and readability of your content to the detriment of your readers.
As a writer, you have to pass your messages clearly and concisely. You owe it to your readers. That’s where readability tools come in handy- to help you write in a clear, simple way so that your readers can understand what you are saying without much struggle.
This blog post will show you the readability test tools you can use to help you write in a clear, concise manner. But first off, let’s see what readability is in the first place.
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What is readability?
Readability refers to how convenient it is to read and comprehend a text based on its specific characteristics. We calculate Readability using metrics such as the number of syllables in each sentence or the variety of terms used to determine a readability score or a level.
What is the Importance of Readability?
Makes Your Text Easy to Read
It conveys information briefly and effectively, allowing readers to grasp the message without working out complex sentences or useless jargon.
Most People Will Benefit From Your Content
It is beneficial to all, from seasoned readers to foreign users and people learning English as a second language (ESL). Plain language is even more critical if the content is intended for an international audience.
If more people understand what you’re talking about, they’ll fall in love with your writing prowess, and most of all, they’ll get your message.
Increased traffic
In addition, when people search for content, they always use words they are familiar with. Your text will not appear in search results if it contains complicated phrases or jargon. Keep in mind that real people are looking for your content.
So, tailor your content to suit their needs. Then, use the same language they do. In other words, speak the people’s language, and they’ll find you.
Increased conversions
When creating your content, keep your conversion targets in mind. In addition, Micro-conversions, such as clicking links or viewing videos, should not be overlooked.
Increasing the amount of readable material on your website is a great way to increase conversions. You know that to get conversions, visitors have to stick to your site.
And creating readable content attracts them and encourages them to stay for a while as they consume what you have written. But if your content is hard to read and understand, visitors won’t wait for a second longer if they can’t skim through your content as fast as they need to.
High-quality, readable content results in conversions increasing the chances of success for your company. In addition, high-quality, readable content is quickly searchable and often results in a higher SEO score.
Improved rankings
If visitors leave your site very quickly, your analytics will return negative results. If you ever notice that people are spending less time on your website, keep an eye out for increased exit and bounce rates.
All of these issues have an impact on how websites rank in SERPs ( search engine results pages)
Google and all other search engines pay close attention to how quickly visitors abandon your site. Yes, visitors can leave a site for various reasons -but poor design, boring content, and poor readability are good reasons for their going.
Making your content easily accessible will help people stay interested in it, and it’ll result in higher SEO rankings.
Increased participation/ Engagement
Your site’s target audience should be able to use it. So don’t be tempted to write content at a level of readability that will keep out your ideal audience.
A higher readability score equates to a higher usability rate. Increased usability leads to more page views, engagement, and conversions.
Now that you know what readability is and how critical it is, let’s take a look at readability test tools at your disposal that you can use to improve the readability of your document.
Top Readability Test Tools
If you need to develop content that resonates with your target audience, you must first understand their readability standards.
Using an analyzer is one of the best things you can ever do for the readability of your content. Before publishing any text, pay attention to your readability score. It is a simple step but has a significant impact.
Readability tools employ various formulas. Here are some of the best readability test tools you can use to give your content a magical touch.
Readability Test Tool
Whether you are a copywriter, SEO expert, or marketer, the readability test tool will come in handy for you. It streamlines your workflow, and it is a darling to novices and experts due to its user-friendly interface.
The Readability Test Tool uses:
- Gunning Fog Index
- Coleman-Liau Index
- SMOG Index,
- Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
- the Automated Readability Index.
The Readability Test Tool is a simple and effective way to check if your work is readable. It is the most versatile readability software available for evaluating readability formulas.
You can evaluate an entire web page, a section of a web page, or just type in your text. It will calculate the results for the referring page if you link from your web page.
The readable tool offers you text statistics and analytics. Also, it displays syllables, letters, and word count. You can also see the use of adverbs, nouns, and adjectives. You can also check the tone of your writing and the keyword density if you are an SEO writer.
See readable.io for a wide range of tests. The website checks:
- SMOG Index
- the Automated Readability Index.
- Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
- Gunning Fog Index
- Coleman-Liau Index
Hemmingway Editor
Hemmingway Editor is a free web-based editing tool that helps edit your work to make it more powerful and clear to understand.
It analyzes your words and sentences, pointing out places where you can improve your prose.
Hemingway Editor is a helpful tool for every writer, whether you write academic papers, business communication, blog posts, essays, or fiction.
Clarity is vital in everything you write. And Hemingway helps you with that. Clarity sharpens your writing prowess and makes your words more powerful and purposeful.
Hemingway Editor assists you in refining your writing so that it is not too wordy and ambiguous. As a result, your writing becomes more readable.
Other Tools to Test Readability are:
- SEMrush SEO Writing Assistant
- Search Metrics Content Experience
- Yoast SEO for WordPress
- Grammarly
- Bulk SEO Tools
- Cliche Finder
- Text Optimizer
- Webfx Readability Tool
Tips to Improve Readability of Your Document
Readers are innovative but also very busy. They do not have to work hard trying to unpack overly long sentences and complex wording.
Use the tips below to help you write succinctly and clearly.
Use fonts that are easy to read.
To make your writing look more authoritative, you may be tempted to use “fancy” fonts (like Papyrus). Regrettably, they will lower the readability of your text. So instead, use the fonts below as they are simple to read.
- Times New Roman
- Arial
- Helvetica,
- Open Sans
- which are simple to read.
Use easy, short words.
The more syllables you have in your vocabulary, the more difficult they are to read. The more syllables a word has, the harder it is to read.
If a two-syllable word would do, don’t use a four-syllable word. Also, keep in mind that not everybody shares your language. You’ll lose the majority of your readers if you use terms such as “inchoate” or “inordinate.”
Avoid stiffness at all costs.
Reading can be exhausting due to jargon and a formal tone. Write as if you were speaking to keep the content loose and natural-sounding. Make your text less formal and more conversational. If you wouldn’t say it aloud, don’t put it in writing!
Write in Short Paragraphs
Write in short paragraphs as they are simple to read and understand. A paragraph should not be longer than 150 words. Using short paragraphs is a suitable method of opening up your writing and creating more whitespaces. As a result, your paper becomes very inviting and easier to read and comprehend.
On the other hand, writing in long paragraphs can make readers feel overwhelmed with loads of information to process at once.
Closing Thoughts
Based on the US Department of Education’s National Assessment of Adult Literacy, close to half the US population has negligible literacy levels.
As a result, the easier your material is to read, the better. Readability is the heart and soul of every content you create. You have to ensure that your target audience can get the intended message.
The good news is that you can improve the readability of your content using readability test tools.
