SEO Readability Score .

2022-09-21 | 1487 Print PDF

Why Readability Score is Important in SEO?

SEO Readability Score also called the Flesch Kincaid readability test, is used to measure how easy it is to understand the content of your website, and they are assigned grades for ease and level of understanding. This helps to allow you to target the right audience for your content.

Now in reference to it being an SEO factor or not, I will like to take a quote from morningscore.io

Readability is both a direct factor and an indirect factor for SEO. Good readability helps your target audience digest your content, thus influencing their behavior signals, which Google measures. Google prefers content with high readability that provides a satisfactory experience to the end-user.

seo web analyst blogger community

The impact of a website readability score in SEO is somewhat neutral, as it does not directly affect your ranking but indirectly does, in such a case of what a good Website readability score can help you communicate your content to the right audience and have them understand better.

The website readability score is not an SEO FACTOR as it does not impact your search engine ranking position nor does having a higher grade score propel your ranking vs having a lower grade score. This can be evidenced by a question answered by John Muller, that is if readability impact SEO ranking and how Google looks at this.

On January 23, 2018, in a Google Webmaster Office Hours, Google’s Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst, John Mueller, confirmed that reading level is not a ranking factor. cited from searchenginejouranl.com

To be frank, the website readability test is to help you optimize your website content by applying and understanding the intent behind the words you use and making sure it’s right for your target audience.

How To Check Readability Score Of an Article.

Check your website’s readability level by using the readability tool in Google and then apply the tips provided as necessary. Open Google and type in the name of your website and then click on the “Search Tools”. Click on “All Results” and then click “Reading Level”. Readability statistics will appear and then you can form a strategy to make your site content easier to understand.

For clarity, I have provided a table that shows the grade score for the Flesch Kincaid readability test

Reading Ease Score Chart: *Aim For Grade 8 to ensure your content can be read and understood by 80% of online users.
Score	Grade	Description	Avg. Word Per Sentence	Syllables Per 100 Word
90.0–100.0	5	Very Easy (easily understandable by an average 11-year-old student)	8	123
80.0–90.0	6	Easy (easily understandable by an average 11-year-old student)	11	131
60.0–70.0	8–9	Standard (easily understandable by 13- to 15-year-old students)	17	147
50.0–60.0	10–12	Somewhat Difficult (easily understandable by 13- to 15-year-old students)	21	155
30.0–50.0	College	Complex (best understood by 23- to 25-year-old graduates)	25	167
00.0–30.0	College Graduate	Complex (best understood by university graduates)	29	192

comments powered by Disqus

Author

Olatunji Adetunji

I am a seo web analyst and have a love for anything online marketing. Have been able to perform researches using the built up internet marketing tool; seo web analyst as a case study and will be using the web marketing tool (platform).