Knowing your readability score is a great place to start when determining whether or not your work will be easily comprehended by the majority of your audience. However, readability is much more than just a number.
Interesting problems develop in a working environment that demands the usage of the internet. Despite the fact that this is a new trend, it has sparked a surge in content marketing and digital marketing in general. While exposure has always been crucial to a company’s success, it has never been more so than now.
Since it’s so simple to put up an online presence, getting to the top – or, in this case, ranking on search engines – has become increasingly tough.
What is ranked on the internet is what people can easily read and comprehend. It’s not about compromising what you’re saying, but about diluting how you deliver it. It should be readable, and that is the essential element. Readability is a critical metric that determines whether or not a person can comprehend what you’re saying.
How to Increase Your Writing Readability?
1. Use Simpler and Shorter Words:
Shorter words are simpler to read and understand. The shorter words you use in your writing, the easier it’s going to be for your readers to grasp you.
For example, instead of using the term “deleterious,” you should use the word “harmful.” Showing off your above-average vocabulary in your writing won’t help you sell more books. All it will do is confuse and frustrate some of your readers.
However, if we want to rise to the top of our profession and stay there, we must be careful in our writing.
So, for the sake of yourself and your readers, always utilize shorter and simpler words to convey your point.
2. Put Yourself in the Place of a Reader:
Some lines blur when you’ve been doing a particular profession for a long time. When you’re conversing with someone outside of your work, it’s easy to forget that you’re not on the same page. Try to imagine yourself as a reader seeking a quick overview of the topic you’re discussing.
When it comes to writing, this means putting things in context and explaining difficult concepts as if you were speaking to a complete beginner – a surprisingly effective method to eliminate language.
3. Define Complex or Strange Words:
You should try to utilize language that is straightforward, clear, and concrete. When you really must use a complicated or unusual term, it is your responsibility to ensure that your readers understand what that word means.
If you must employ a complicated or unusual word that you know many of your readers will not understand, you must clarify it quickly for them.
Remember, it’s your duty to ensure that your readers understand what you’re saying. To do so, your readers must be able to understand the terms you write.
When employing a complicated or possibly confusing term, make sure you give enough of hints for your reader to figure out what it means.
4. Use Active Voice:
It’s far simpler than one may think to fall prey to this problem. Fortunately, analytics can inform you when you’ve gone too far, typically providing a % count of how much of your text is written in passive voice.
Active voice is more conversational, whereas passive voice is typically employed in academic or technical writing. Active voice makes more sense for the purpose of sounding approachable.
5. Communicate One Idea in Each Sentence:
If you need to convey more than one concept, use multiple sentences.
Trying to write “excellent sentences” is a beginner error. You don’t have to write great, unique phrases to be a great writer.
Writing a lot of simple sentences that each express one concept is really a lot quicker, faster, and more fruitful.
You’ll be surprised at how good your writing may become without attempting to be fancy if you string all those concepts together with enough simple sentences.
6. Use Sub-Headings:
If you’re writing nonfiction, use subheadings extensively throughout your work.
Many people like to skim the text. By providing subheadings, they will be able to absorb more information in a shorter amount of time.
Subheadings function as mini-rest stops along the way. If you push your reader too far without a break, they’ll become impatient and give up.
Allow them to take a break now and again to better absorb the information you’re trying to convey.
Subheadings are also a useful tool for organizing your work. Subheadings might help you remain on topic if you tend to ramble or go off on tangents.
When a few paragraphs deviate from your subheading, you have the option of creating a new subtopic or removing the excessive text.
7. Use Visual Elements:
Using images, graphs, charts, and other visual components can aid your reader’s comprehension abilities of the information you’re trying to say. Charts, pie charts, tables, etc are a great way to enhance readability.
8. Organize your Information Properly:
In my writing, I try to utilize as much personal language as possible. You should do the same.
Personal language and pronouns like “I” and “you” have long been used by copywriters and advertisers to encourage readers to pay attention to their headlines or copy. Writing in the third person, on the other hand, maybe quite boring.
The reader will save a lot of time and effort if the text is well-organized.
You know how frustrating badly structured text maybe if you’ve ever tried to build something using a poorly written instruction manual.
It’s not enough to have all the information your readers require in your writing! It must be well-organized so that non-fiction readers may quickly discover and use the information they require.
If your writing isn’t well-organized in a work of fiction, the reader will become extremely confused and quit reading.
9. Use Humor:
Consider incorporating a sense of humor into your writing. If you can make your readers chuckle, they’ll be far more inclined to remain with you in the long run.
You don’t have to take yourself seriously all of the time. Having a little fun with your writing may make the writing process more enjoyable for you, and it will undoubtedly make your readers’ reading experience more enjoyable.
10. Keep it Visually Appealing:
This holds true for phrases, paragraphs, and even entire sections. Readability includes not just easy-to-understand text, but also a visually appealing/accessible structure. If a person lands on your website only to discover it congested, you can bet they’re not going to convert.
Conclusion
Your readability ratings will increase automatically if you follow the suggestions in this article, such as writing shorter sentences and utilizing smaller words instead of complicated or outdated terms.
More significantly, your viewers will discover that reading your work requires far less effort and may even be enjoyable.
-Isabell S.
