Did you know that by simply using shorter words and sentences, you will not just make your copy easier to read but will also boost your SEO? This is because the readability is one crucial factor when it comes to ranking higher in Google as they directly influence the length of time a visitor stays on a page. This will, in turn, result in a higher bounce rate. With organic search resulting in over 53.3% of all website traffic and approximately 68% of online interactions beginning with a search engine, it is worth your while taking a little time to find and assess your readability index score, to keep visitors coming back to your site.
Willam Shakespeare may have been born more than 400 years ago, but his advice is as true as ever:
Since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief.
Brevity also lies at the heart of getting higher rankings in Google. How? Through shorter sentences that attract customers and Google.
The longer your sentences, the less your readers will understand. A study by the American Press Institute showed:
People buy from people they like, trust and know. If you make them feel stupid, they won’t buy from you.
“Don’t make your audience feel stupid.” – Drew Westen
Shorter sentences are even more vital after the advent of the smartphone. Words are now squeezed into the equivalent of a newspaper column.
Still not convinced? Google is forever tweaking how they rank web pages. You can take a look at the latest updates. However they’re always pretty vague as to what they’ve changed. So Search Engine Optimisation experts try to work it out.
For the Google Penguin 2.1 update, MathSight worked out that Google added a readibility index “to evaluate both linking and onsite content.” – source: Responsesource
One readibility index is the Flesch Kincaid reading index. This analyses the number of words in a sentence. Shorter sentences lead to a higher Flesch Kincaid rating and a higher Google rank. The scale is from 0 (difficult) to 100 (easy). High-ranking Google pages have an average score of 73.5 which should be understood by a 13 year old.
Is your website written in WordPress? Do you have the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) plug-in Yoast? Then your Flesch Kincaid score is listed in Page Analysis.
Otherwise, you can copy and paste your web page text into the Readability Test Tool.
The clock upbraids me with the waste of time – Shakespeare
Just for fun, and the chance to look at some beautifully-designed websites, I checked out the websites of some leading luxury watch brands. I had a play with their words to see if I could improve their Flesch Kincaid score. This would lead to higher rankings in Google.
To really boost them, I would need to use shorter words. However I wanted to keep the spirit of the original, so just concentrated on sentence length.
As the last family-owned independent watch manufacturer in Geneva, it enjoys total creative freedom to entirely design, produce and assemble what experts agree to be the finest timepieces in the world – following the vision of its founders Antoine Norbert de Patek (1839) and Adrien Philippe (1845).
Original score: 13.6 That sentence on the Patek Philippe site contained a whopping 46 words which is bad news for reading ease.
My alternative:
We are Geneva’s last family-owned independent watch manufacturer. We are therefore free to design, produce and assemble our watches exactly how we wish. Experts agree we produce the finest timepieces in the world. This stays true to the vision of our founders Antoine Norbert de Patek (1839) and Adrien Philippe (1845).
New score: 61.9
In 1925 the now famous winged Rotary logo was introduced and after the war, under the leadership of Teddy Dreyfuss, the brand developed further, with innovative watches, sophisticated marketing and powerful advertising campaigns.
Original score: at 14.4 Rotary Watches isn’t much better than Patek Philippe with a sentence that is 33 words long.
An alternative:
The famous winged Rotary logo was introduced in 1925. After the war, Teddy Dreyfuss took charge. Innovative watches helped develop the brand. Our marketing became more sophisticated. We also ran some powerful advertising campaigns.
New score: 48.2
The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative brings artistic masters from seven disciplines together with highly promising young artists for a year of creative collaboration in a one-to-one mentoring relationship.
Original score: a dismal 18.4
My alternative:
The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative runs for a year. It covers seven disciplines. Artistic masters mentor highly promising young artists one-to-one.
New score: 56.2 Hats off to Rolex for running such a wonderful initiative.
If it’s under 50 then you won’t do well on Google. That's where a professional copywriter can make a tremendous difference.
Optimising your web copy for SEO is one simple way of increasing the time visitors stay on your website, and will have the added result of increasing your rankings on Google. The takehome is that higher, digestible content = better rankings.
Head to Ink Gardener Copywriting for more copywriting advice, or check out more content on our advice pages to find more information about finding and keeping customers…and of course, if you need help with marketing your business, try out the free GrowthBox planning tool for recommendations to get you moving forwards!
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