As we all know, the quality of our content is crucial for our website to be successful. The training we have received from Kyle, Carson and the other gurus here underline that fact. But is it readable to the many visitors we hope to attract? If our content has an easy style, one that makes our readers comfortable, then we are more likely to get those readers to return and engage with us through their meaningful comments.

How Is That Possible?

Writing killer content that keeps the reader engaged is not an easy task, especially if we feel our education has limited us, we have a language barrier or we just aren't confident enough to go for it. What can help us make our writing readable?

Recently, I changed my SEO plug-in to SEO by Yoast. It was what my wife’s website designer had recommended and many here at Wealthy Affiliate also spoke highly of it. As I unleashed its power on my website, I noticed a comment on the SEO report for one of my posts. It read, “The copy scores 70 in the The Flesch Reading Ease test, which is considered fairly easy to read.”

I, of course imagined that the higher the score, the better. Let’s aim for 100%, I thought. But before we get too excited about what score to aim for, it is worthwhile learning what this Flesch Reading Ease score is all about.

What Is the Flesch Reading Ease?

Note the following explanation:

“Flesch Reading Ease Formula is considered as one of the oldest and most accurate readability formulas. The Flesch Reading Ease Formula is a simple approach to assess the grade-level of the reader. It’s also one of the few accurate measures around that we can rely on without too much scrutiny. This formula is best used on school text. It has since become a standard readability formula used by many US Government Agencies, including the US Department of Defense. However, primarily, we use the formula to assess the difficulty of a reading passage written in English.” (source: readabilityformulas.com)

Flesch Readability Scale

The scale is as follows:

100: Very easy to read. Average sentence length is 12 words or fewer. No words of more than two syllables.

65: Plain English. Average sentence is 15 to 20 words long. Average word has two syllables.

30: A little hard to read. Sentences will have mostly 25 words. Two syllables usually.

0: Very hard to read. Average sentence is 37 words long. Average word has more than two syllables.

So let’s break it down a little more. The following table is also helpful to assess the ease of readability in a document or post:

90-100 : Very Easy
80-89 : Easy
70-79 : Fairly Easy
60-69 : Standard
50-59 : Fairly Difficult
30-49 : Difficult
0-29 : Very Confusing

How do you go about testing your content? Page 2 will answer that question...



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barsum52 Premium
Thanks Funkydunc.Thats a great tool.I just did a test and my overall readability score was 77.9.Is that good or bad? Thank you again.
Barry
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Funkydunc208 Premium
Barry, that is very readable content that doesn't require a uni degree to understand. Naturally, we don't want it to be too simple, but that is a very good score.
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Loes Premium
I am always in the green numbers with the flesch readability test, because my English is of kindergarten level.

But I have a Dutch website, and the readability test isn't working there. It seems that the Flesch readability engine doesn't speak any foreign language ;)
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Funkydunc208 Premium
Oh dear, what a shame about there not being a Dutch test. Maybe, we can design one and call it the Loes test. If Loes finds it an easy read, then an appropriate points score can be awarded. :))
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Loes Premium
:) perhaps a whole in the market:)
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lavera Premium
Thank you so much for this training, finally i know what all those numbers mean and can read about them in one place. Bookmarked :)
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Funkydunc208 Premium
Glad you enjoyed it so much. We all have the capacity to write killer content in our own unique style. Developing that style and maintaining confidence in it is the key. A few tools to assist us along the way can help.
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stevechic Premium
Thankyou very much so helpful will definitely be using this and checking my readability scores. Just ten to write what comes into my head and publish at present.
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Funkydunc208 Premium
Yes, but Steve, that may be killer content since it is how you speak naturally and so we readers will connect with what you say.
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stevechic Premium
If this is true then I will continue to just write as I feel thanks
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Funkydunc208 Premium
Be true to your own personality and develop the writing skills that make you shine, that allows you to express who you are. That way, those of us who have just met you, will get to know you through your fascinating and killer content.
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kennick2015 Premium
Funkydunc, that is an outstanding set of training lessons you have provided to the members. The ability for everyone to be able to write content that is easy to read and be understood is paramount to engaging your audience. It does not, however, come easily to many people and your lessons will go a long way to give confidence to those, and with the tools you provided at least allow them to better check their content. for readability. I do find one of the most annoying traits is the lack of proof reading before publishing a post or a page. The need to get it online hastily without the proper checks can be seriously detrimental to the writers' credibility and harmful in being able to maintain their audience in the long term. Again, a great series of lessons!
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Funkydunc208 Premium
Thanks, buddy, for your positive response. I am glad you enjoyed and benefited from it. I must have proof read the training five times and tweaked it each time. Some great points you raise in your comments.
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