Readability score: how to make your writing easier to read
Shorter sentences, plainer words, more readers
Nobody ever complained that a landing page was too easy to read. People skim, read on their phones and switch tabs halfway through a sentence. The easier your copy is to read, the more of it gets read, and the more of your readers understand what you're offering.
What a readability score is
A readability score estimates how hard a text is to read, based on two things: how long your sentences are and how long your words are. Long sentences and long words make text harder.
The two most used scores are:
- Flesch reading ease, from 0 to 100. Higher is easier. 60 to 70 is plain English; below 30 is very hard.
- Flesch-Kincaid grade level, which turns the same maths into a school grade. Grade 8 means a typical 13 to 14 year old could follow it.
The formulas look like this:
Reading ease = 206.835 - 1.015 × (words ÷ sentences) - 84.6 × (syllables ÷ words)
Grade level = 0.39 × (words ÷ sentences) + 11.8 × (syllables ÷ words) - 15.59
A low grade isn't "dumbing down". Experts read plain text faster too.
What score to aim for
| Who you're writing for | Aim for |
|---|---|
| Everyone: social posts, ads, landing pages, emails | Grade 8 or lower |
| Business readers: B2B pages, newsletters, LinkedIn articles | Grade 10 or lower |
| Experts: technical docs, whitepapers | Grade 12 or lower |
Many style guides, including those for government websites, recommend grade 8 or lower for the general public.
What makes text hard to read
- Long sentences. Past 25 words, readers start losing the thread. Past 35, most do.
- Passive voice. "The report was sent by the team" is longer and vaguer than "The team sent the report".
- Wordy phrases. "In order to" is just "to". "Utilize" is just "use". "At this point in time" is "now".
- Buzzwords. Seamless, cutting-edge, leverage, unlock and synergy sound big and say nothing. Say what the product actually does.
- Filler words. Very, really, just, actually and basically rarely add meaning.
- Too many adverbs. "Quickly ran" is weaker than "sprinted".
Check your text for free
- Paste your copy into the readability checker, or click Try an example.
- Pick who it's for: everyone, business readers or experts.
- Read your grade and see how far it is from the target.
- Look at the highlights in the text: long and very long sentences, passive voice, wordy phrases with a simpler word, buzzwords, fillers and adverbs.
- Click any item in What to fix to jump to it in the text, rewrite it, and watch the grade drop.
It runs entirely in your browser, so your text isn't sent anywhere, and your draft is kept for next time.
Quick ways to lower your grade
- Split long sentences. Find the "and", "which" or "because" in the middle and start a new sentence there.
- Cut the first sentence. Often it's a warm-up and the second one is the real start.
- Swap long words for short ones. Help, use, buy, show, start, need.
- Name who does what. Turn passive sentences around so the subject comes first.
- Use lists. Three items in a list are easier to read than three items in a sentence.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good readability score?
For most marketing copy, a Flesch reading ease of 60 or more, or a grade level of 8 or lower.
What is the Flesch reading ease score?
A score from 0 to 100 based on sentence length and word length. Higher scores are easier to read.
Does readability affect SEO?
Not directly, but easy-to-read pages keep visitors longer and answer their question faster, which is what search engines reward.
Does the readability checker work in other languages?
The scores and highlights are designed for English. Other languages have different word lengths, so the grade won't be accurate.