Readability as an SEO Strategy: How to Write for People and Search Engines

An Introduction to Readability and SEO

Readability in web pages, social media posts, and other marketing content is essential as an SEO strategy. Anyone who has managed a website and uses search optimization tools knows it: SEO is just as important as readability.

Readability could be defined as a measure of how clear or easy it is for a reader to understand a piece of text or an image. This can come down to two things:

• The design choices. The typeface you select, as well as spacing and elements
• The structure and words used

Ideally, text and images should be easy for the vast majority of people to understand. When it comes to SEO, as we always say at Polimake, Google will always make its users and their behaviors a priority in algorithm changes. And readability is essential. The first thing you need to understand is that you should write for humans and not for search engines. What's more, with voice searches and mobile devices, being readable is increasingly important.

Internet audiences are growing more impatient. Depending on the situation and the device, this can be a deciding factor in whether someone stays on the page or not.

If you want to dig deeper into how to write with SEO in mind, we recommend pairing this guide with our tips for creating SEO-friendly content and the universal marketing glossary.

SEO Readability from an Analytical Standpoint

Readability, despite seeming subjective, isn't. And analysis tools prove it. You can put an objective number on a piece of text. Tools like those from Yoast or other SEO plugins help report this data. They look at things like:

• Use of the passive voice
• Paragraph length
• Subheadings
• Transition words

Depending on what is more or less important, there are algorithms or "recipes" for producing an objective number.

• The Fernández-Huerta "readability" formula.
  • Measures the number of syllables per word and words per sentence
• Flesch-Kincaid readability tests
  • Considers total sentences, syllables, and words
• Mu (µ) readability (Muñoz and Muñoz).
  • Measures the number of words and the variance in the number of letters per word

These are typically numerical calculations that produce a final figure from 0 to 100.

A 90-100 is considered very easy and appropriate for a 4th grader. A 0-30 is very difficult and requires specialized knowledge of the subject (college level).

Tips for Good Readability

Short Sentences and Words

We're not talking about writing in a short, overly simple way. But rather about trying to break things into segments. Readers tend to jump from one sentence to the next, and this helps. You can also use bulleted lists of key points to make for easy reading.

Write short sentences that flow and are easy for readers to understand.

Use Text Formatting

Not only use bold and italics, but also titles and subheadings. Use bold and italics to highlight or emphasize important phrases in your text. And use subheadings to organize information. Everything belongs to the H1; this is broken down into H2, and each H2 has an H3 subdivision, and so on.

Keep It Fresh and Simple

Don't focus solely on covering keywords for Google. We're talking about writing for humans and adapting for machines. You can and should include keywords, but they surely have synonyms or other semantic variations.

What's more, every good article has media. Video, images, graphics, or even sounds. Images and videos are worth a lot and explain things in very little space. Images should explain, show, or say something about the text.

Reduce Ambiguity

You can explain the same thing in several ways and thus avoid potential errors. You should also adapt your text to your target audience. If you use terminology without explaining it, it's hard to understand.

A Quick Readability Checklist for SEO

<ul> <li><strong>Short paragraphs</strong>: 3-4 lines maximum.</li> <li><strong>One idea per paragraph</strong> and sentences that aren't too long.</li> <li><strong>Clear subheadings (H2/H3)</strong> with related keywords.</li> <li><strong>Lists</strong> to group items (like this one).</li> <li><strong>Bold text</strong> to highlight key concepts and make scanning easier.</li> </ul>

If you want to see how it all fits into a larger strategy, you can check out our guide on readability as an SEO strategy along with other planning content like the marketing plan.

Steps to Improve the Readability of an Existing Article

If you already have published content and want to improve its readability for SEO, you can follow these steps:

1. Review the structure of titles and subheadings

   • Make sure there's only one H1 and that the H2s/H3s follow a logical hierarchy.
   • Naturally introduce keywords and related terms into those subheadings.

2. Break up long paragraphs

   • Split blocks of 6-7 lines into paragraphs of 3-4 lines.
   • Aim for each paragraph to express a single main idea.

3. Add lists and bold text where it makes sense

   • Turn enumerations into <ul> or <ol> lists.
   • Use bold to highlight key concepts and make visual scanning easier.

4. Simplify very complex sentences

   • Replace run-on sentences with several shorter ones.
   • Avoid unnecessary jargon, or explain it when it's essential.

5. Introduce supporting visual elements

   • Images, graphics, tables, or videos that reinforce the text's message.
   • Remember that everything should provide real information, not just decorate.

6. Run the article through a readability tool

   • Use plugins like Yoast or readability index calculators to get an objective benchmark.
   • Adjust until you land in a range that's appropriate for your target audience.