These days attention spans are short. It’s critical that you communicate with your website’s visitors. You can use a feature of the readability portion of the program we lovingly call Mrs. Yoast. I suggest using the one that is already installed on your site and do not invest in the premium program. In this post, we’ll take a look into using Yoast to improve your website’s ease in reading and the overall user experience.
Getting a handle on readability scores
You can use these scores to find out how easy it is to understand written content. There are several popular formulas. We use the Flesch Reading Ease. The score considers things like sentence length, word length, and the overall structure of the text. We need to aim for a score of as close as you can get between 70-80. See what each score means in the table below.
How important are readability scores?
1. Make your content clear, concise, and easy to understand with readability scores. When people can easily digest the information on your website, they’re more likely to engage and stay.
2. Improved SEO: Search engines like Google consider readability when ranking websites. It’s more likely to rank higher in search engines if your content is easier to read, which boosts visibility and organic traffic. Increased traffic makes it easier for Google AdSense approval.
3. With simpler, more accessible content, you’ll reach more people. Connecting with and engaging with readers across different educational backgrounds is easier.
Using Yoast SEO for readability
SEO is easy with Yoast SEO, a WordPress plugin. A standout feature is its readability analysis. Check out these tips for optimizing your WordPress pages using Yoast’s readability scores:
1. While you’re writing or editing a post, Yoast will show you a readability analysis, typically in the sidebar. There are suggestions for how to make your content more readable, like shortening sentences, breaking them up, and using simpler words.
2. Make sure your content is readable: The Yoast SEO readability analysis also has a helpful checklist. Several areas for improvement are highlighted, like passive voice, subheading distribution, and transition words. If you address these suggestions, your content will be more reader-friendly.
3. Yoast’s traffic light system lets you see if your text is readability-friendly at a glance. To ensure an optimal balance between SEO and reading ease, aim for green lights everywhere.
4. Don’t ignore Yoast’s Readability Score: It calculates a score based on different formulas for every page and post. Even though the specific scores might vary, it’s important to aim for a score that matches your target audience’s education level. If you want to get a high readability score, keep refining your content.
5. Now you know the reasoning behind the green over green we request. Balanced and easy to read content makes it easier for a visitor to stay longer on your site and more likely to return.
In conclusion
You need to make sure your website’s content is both informative and easy to read to attract and retain visitors. Readability scores and Yoast SEO’s comprehensive features help you make your content more readable. It’ll boost your search engine rankings and engage a wider audience. Now that you’ve learned how to improve readability on WordPress pages, you can implement the techniques outlined here.
