Flesch Reading Ease: Write for Human First

Writing that resonates with readers is key. Explore the benefits of Flesch Reading Ease and master the art of captivating content creation for a loyal following.

7/14/20234 min read

I talked about blog readability improvement, but there's that much measurement to specify the requirements. And if you are using WordPress plugins such as All In One SEO or Yoast, then you'll see it's marking a score of Flesch Reading Ease for readability requirement.

Flesh Reading Ease example AIOSEO
Flesh Reading Ease example AIOSEO

Today we are going to figure out what it is and how can we use it to measure our AI-generated content.

What Is Flesh Reading Ease?

Flesch reading ease is a readability test that measures how easy it is for a reader to understand a piece of text. It is calculated using two factors: the average sentence length and the average number of syllables per word.

The Flesch reading ease score is a number between 0 and 100, with 100 being the easiest to read. A score of 60 or above is considered to be easy to read, while a score of 30 or below is considered to be difficult to read.

The Flesch reading ease score can be calculated using the following formula:

Flesch Reading Ease = 206.835 - (1.015 x ASL) - (84.6 x ASW)

where:

  • ASL = average sentence length (number of words/number of sentences)

  • ASW = average number of syllables per word

The Flesch reading ease score is a useful tool for measuring the readability of your text. It can help you to make sure that your text is easy to read for your target audience.

What Is the Best Score?

Simply say, the higher the score value is, the better.

The perfect score on the Flesch reading ease test is 100, which means that the text is very easy to read. However, it is not always possible to achieve a perfect score, especially if the text is technical or complex.

Why We Should Care About the Score?

There are several reasons why we should care about Flesch reading ease.

First, it can help us to ensure that our writing is accessible to a wide audience. If our writing is too difficult to read, people will be less likely to understand it. This can be a problem for both writers and readers. For writers, it means that their work may not be as effective as it could be. For readers, it means that they may have to spend more time and effort trying to understand the text, which can be frustrating and even lead to them giving up.

Second, it can help us to improve our writing style. By making our writing easier to read, we can make it more engaging and persuasive. This is because people are more likely to pay attention to text that is easy to read. Additionally, easier-to-read text is often more likely to be remembered.

Finally, it can have a positive impact on our SEO. Google and other search engines take into account the readability of text when ranking websites in search results. This means that easier-to-read text can help our websites to rank higher in search results.

Overall, by making our writing easier to read, we can improve the accessibility, effectiveness, and SEO of our work.

How to Get Better Scores?

There are a few things that you can do to achieve a good score on the Flesch reading ease test:

  • Use short sentences.

  • Use simple words.

  • Avoid using jargon or technical terms.

  • Use active voice instead of passive voice.

  • Break up long paragraphs into shorter paragraphs.

By following these tips, you can make your text easier to read and understand.

What Scores Should We Aim?

Here are some examples of Flesch reading ease scores for different types of text:

  • Newspaper articles: 60-70

  • Novels: 70-80

  • Technical documents: 50-60

  • Textbooks: 40-50

  • Magazines: 70-80

  • Textbooks: 80-90

It is important to note that the Flesch reading ease score is just one measure of readability. Other factors, such as the content of the text and the audience's level of understanding, should also be considered when assessing the readability of a piece of writing.

For me, my daily blog writing with AI tools assisting, I would aim for 60+ scores for my blog writing.

What Tools to Test Flesch Reading Ease?

there are many tools available to measure the Flesch reading ease. Here are a few of the most popular:

Grammark

This is a free and open-source tool that can be used by anyone to improve their writing. Grammark is an open-source writing aid that helps you check grammar and spelling errors in your text. It is a web application that can be used to improve your writing style. Grammark is based on the Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK), a popular Python library for natural language processing.

Grammark offers a variety of features, including:

  • Grammar checking: Grammark can identify grammar errors in your text, such as subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, and dangling modifiers.

  • Spell checking: Grammark can identify spelling errors in your text.

  • Style checking: Grammark can identify stylistic errors in your text, such as passive voice and clichés.

  • Sentence structure checking: Grammark can identify problems with the structure of your sentences, such as run-on sentences and comma splices.

  • Word usage checking: Grammark can identify problems with the usage of words, such as misused homophones and incorrect verb tenses.

It is a valuable resource for students, writers, and anyone who wants to improve their communication skills.

Readable

The Readable online tool calculates the Flesch reading ease score, as well as other readability scores, such as the SMOG index and the Coleman-Liau index.

Hemingway Editor

As I usually recommend, I use Hemmingway APP most. It's free and fast because it highlights what sentences are hard to read. Simply we just need to break down those sentences into shorter and simpler forms. I bought their APP installation, then I can restore the edited data on my computer.

Final Thoughts

People are arguing that everyone can write with AI's help now. But the battle zone is not about the way we create, it's all about what we contribute to the world. The winner always does better in the same job. Since Everyone can write, the audience will pick those who make reading materials more clear and concise.

Flesch Reading Ease
Flesch Reading Ease