Website promotion requires the development of a marketing strategy, positioning, and studying the target audience. Against this background, writing texts seems a trifle.

Could something interfere with the article's reading if it contains valuable information for a specific group of users? The answer is yes—low readability. If the text is difficult to write, then users will not understand it. Consequently, they will go look for information on competitors' websites, which will increase your website bounce rate.

So, we will tell what the text's readability is and what it depends on. We'll also introduce the Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress. It will allow you to evaluate and improve any text.

Why is Readability important?

While many site owners ignore the importance of this feature, it affects site performance. Ease of reading affects SEO. Interesting, useful, and simply written content is more pleasant to read. It is more popular with site visitors.

Content readability is part of UX. Search engines take it into account and strive to provide users with a positive experience. Therefore, they direct their audience to sites with higher UX values.

If the content is hard to read, then the user experience is not positive, and as a result, visitors leave the resource very quickly. It is noticed that search engines cease to direct people to the site.

The development of technology also affects. Search engine algorithms are getting smarter every day. Google is trying to understand now how people act while they are on your site and recreates this behaviour. So, it draws conclusions about the characteristics of a quality text.

Noticing them on the site will improve the position in the SERP. In the absence of such indicators, search engines reduce the number of impressions of the resource. Google learns regularly and gets smarter. Therefore, readability is becoming increasingly important. 

To ensure high-quality texts, it is important to give work to experienced professionals. If you don't have one, you can contact a freelancer or hire a full-time employee. For quick and efficient search, use special HR software. It will help you to find an employee who fits all the criteria.

Why exactly, YOAST?

The plugin has specific algorithms. It evaluates the text content of the site on the same system as Google. In particular, it takes into account identical options. Therefore, by checking the site using the Yoast plugin, you “rehearse” the interaction with Google and get such an assessment as if you had already posted an article.

The difference is that this does not affect the positions in the search results. Instead of ups and downs, you get tips for improvement.

However, Yoast is not the ultimate truth. You need to be careful with it if you have a specific product. First of all, articles should be oriented and created for the target audience of the resource. When choosing between a Yoast rating and a reader's value for content, choose a second metric.

But this is a rare case. In the vast majority of cases, Yoast gives constructive and useful tips for improving the text. Following them, you will be liked not only by readers but also by Google. All because the recommendations are sound. For example, a service may recommend reducing the length of sentences, paragraphs, or headings. These are solutions that are always relevant.

It is also important to remember that writing text for a site has nothing in common with creating a school essay. You write for people. Therefore, the presentation manner should be as appropriate as possible to the features of communication and thinking of your target audience.

How does the “Readability Analysis” Function work in Yoast SEO?

The service uses special algorithms to calculate the readability of the text. To do this, it evaluates a number of characteristics. At the end of the check, the service indicates weaknesses in the text and gives recommendations for their elimination. You'll learn how readable the article is, why it is, and how to improve it.

What does Yoast SEO Readability include?

  • Introductory words. Any information is perceived more easily if it is structured, set out along the logical chain of thought development, and ends with conclusions. Introductory words help in this. They smoothly lead the reader from one thought to another. The use of words such as “consequently,” “in this way,” and “therefore” greatly helps to achieve logical transitions.
  • Length of sentences. A succinctly formulated thought is easy to remember. Conversely, the description of many words leads the reader to lose the essence of the above. He has to re-read the writing. To avoid this, Yoast recommends using sentences with a maximum length of 20 words. If necessary, they can be divided into several. The service allows the presence in the text of proposals of greater length but no more than 25% of the total volume.
  • Paragraph length. More – it does not mean better. The presence of paragraphs with many lines makes the text intimidating to the reader. It looks massive and tedious. Texts with small paragraphs look much better, which can additionally be diluted with lists. It allows the reader to go over the article and find the part of interest.
  • Start of offers. Some authors sin by starting thoughts with the same word. It creates a feeling of repetition. It may seem to the reader that he is told one idea several times in a row. Instead of understanding, you will cause irritation. Pay attention to what words sentences begin with. Do you find a repetition? So they should be replaced.
  • Subheadings. The text becomes massive and difficult to read without them. Subheadings provide a “scan.” Thus, you help the reader navigate the writing quickly.
  • Passive voice. Service limits the possible amount of such 10%. It is due to the fact that a passive voice makes the text detached from the reader and less clearly formulated. Plus, the design is larger. Using passive voice greatly increases the number of long sentences. In general, the text is more difficult to understand. An active voice is much more convincing and understandable.
  • Flesch score. It can be from 1 to 100. It is an internationally recognized test that analyzes and evaluates texts by the criterion of ease of reading. 100 points have articles with short sentences and words (no more than 2 syllables). The acceptable rating is 60-70. The fewer points a text receives, the more difficult it is to read.
analysis results

yoast

To improve readability and prevent typos in the text, additionally use special services like Grammarly or ask professionals from personal statement writing services for help. They will help to make the content quality and presentable.

  • Supported Verification Languages. The plugin allows you to check texts written in different languages. Therefore, if you have a multilingual site, you can evaluate each version of the page's content. At the moment, the plugin supports verification in the following languages:
  • English;
  • German;
  • Portuguese;
  • French;
  • Russian;
  • Spanish.

How to improve the Text? 3 Tips from Professionals

1. Simplify

Any thought can be simplified. There is a synonym for every word. Moreover, sometimes, the whole phrase can be replaced by one term.

Let's say there is a phrase: “We use advanced technological solutions.” It can be made shorter. For example, like this: “We use advanced technologies.” However in this case, the word “advanced” can be replaced, making the proposal significantly easier. The result is: “We use the latest technology.” The meaning is the same, but the design is different.

Pay attention to this and try to simplify your thoughts wherever possible. Even replacing the word with a synonym containing fewer syllables will do good. In the end, the text will be easier to read.

2. Think over Subtitles well

Their main task is to give an understanding of what is written in the article. They form the outline of the text. Therefore, before writing a subtitle, think about what will be started after it. It should give an understanding of the following thought. Plus, brevity is essential.

Therefore, having thought over the subheadings' message and using the previous advice, you can create a simple structure. Of course, using enough abstracts.

3. Text Dynamics

Users do not want to read boring text. He gets bored quickly and begins to seem too monotonous. To give the text dynamism, change the length of sentences that are located next to it. The number of words in them determines whether they read the article to the end or close the tab in a few seconds.

The dynamics are also called the rhyme of the text. It is understood as the number of words contained in neighbouring sentences. It is worth focusing on 3.

If in 3 sentences in a row, there will be, for example, 7 words each, then the text will become monotonous and become boring. But it's enough to reduce or increase one of them as the dynamics appear. Example:

“We are a professional construction company. We comply with all quality standards. We guarantee compliance with the agreed deadlines.”

And you can do this:

“We are a professional construction company. We focus on the requirements of current standards on energy efficiency and building safety. We guarantee compliance with the agreed deadlines.”

The Last Say

As you can see, making the text readable is not difficult. All you need is desire, a little effort, and attention. In fact, many texts that can greatly benefit users remain unread simply because they are not visible. Or, having found an article, they don't finish reading it.

We hope that Yoast SEO helps you avoid this fate and understand why you need seo. It is a convenient tool that finds weaknesses in the text and immediately offers ways to eliminate them. You just have to do it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Content SEO is the practice of optimizing website content to polish its visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).

To write SEO content, conduct keyword research, create high-quality, relevant content, use proper on-page SEO techniques, optimize meta tags, and focus on user intent.

To find SEO keywords, use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs, and analyze competitors' websites for relevant keywords.

To check your SEO content, you can use SEO auditing tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Google Search Console to assess its performance and identify areas for improvement.