SEO Writing Tips: Readability Optimization

If Readable, SEO is Achievable!

Wondering if there is more you can do to help improve your website’s search rankings? If you’re already following some of the basic SEO practices and still struggling to see upward mobility, there are some SEO writing tips you can implement to increase your chances for success.

To begin, many people are surprised to find out that Google is interested in the “readability” of website content. Essentially, the easier it is to read and the more user-friendly the content, the more likely that Google is going to want to serve your website higher up in search results. But what does “readability” mean exactly? For more information on readability optimization and SEO writing tips, read on!

Time for Transitions

First, a key element for improving your content’s readability score is the use of transitional words. Including such words makes your writing easier to digest and creates a flow throughout the content. Furthermore, it signals to Google that your piece is well-written and should, therefore, be shared with a wider audience. There are endless options when it comes to transitional words, but some popular ones include words like “also,” “in addition,” “including,” “furthermore,” “similarly,” and “finally.”

Active is Awesome!

Furthermore, you should use active voice whenever possible in your website’s content, as this will help to further enhance your readability optimization. When you fail to do so, your sentences will often become too wordy or vague. This is one of many SEO writing tips that often goes unnoticed, but may prove crucial to your success!

Variety is the Spice of Life

In addition, everyone likes a bit of variety in their lives, and your readers are sure to appreciate it as well. Unfortunately, when your website’s blog or article contains three or more sentences in a row that all begin with the same word, this may signal to Google that your piece is not an easy read. Rather, it may view your work as being repetitive or lacking overall flow. To enhance your readability optimization, ensure that you maintain a variety of sentence beginnings throughout your piece.

Other Tips to Reach the Top

Other SEO writing tips for readability optimization include even subheading distribution, as well as appropriately sized paragraphs and sentences. However, one of the most important indicators of “readable” content is your “flesch reading ease” score. This number assesses your word count and complexity, as well as the number and length of your sentences. While you may want to impress your readers, using difficult words and lengthy sentences can make it harder for you to score well. Therefore, when in doubt, keep things simple and easy to digest. In fact, many believe that a well optimized website can be easily understood by a 13-15-year-old!

Confidence is Key

Now that you have all of the SEO writing tips for readability optimization down, you’re probably feeling a bit overwhelmed. Unfortunately, it sounds like a lot of work, and it is if you’re left to do it on your own! Ultimately, there are a number of elements to keep in mind as you’re writing, which can easily end up forgotten. However, that’s where Yoast SEO arrives to save the day.

If you’re working on a site built in WordPress, you’re in luck! Thankfully, Yoast SEO is a search-optimization WordPress plugin that eliminates all of the guess work. As a result, you can make any necessary tweaks or edits after your blog or page has been completed.

Once you have the plugin downloaded and your website content inserted into the WordPress backend, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the plugin’s helpful tools. There you will find two critical tabs located at the top: one labeled “SEO” and one labeled “Readability.” It is here that you’re essentially provided with a checklist to ensure all SEO writing tips are accounted for.

Below is a screenshot showing proper SEO and readability optimization from Yoast SEO.

Ultimately, when you see the friendly green smiley face, you know your content is ready to be published. However, if you’re struggling to get there, reference the checklist to see which items can be improved. As a result, you will be able to easily identify the select areas that need attention in your blog without having to wonder.

Leave it Up to Us

Finally, even with the help of plugins like Yoast SEO, optimizing all of your website’s content for SEO and readability can be quite an undertaking. It not only requires skilled writing, but also a lot of time and energy. Therefore, spend less time writing and more time focusing on executing your business’s goals by partnering with the Frozen Fire team. Our skilled marketers are pros when it comes to SEO writing tips and can ensure your content is written well, easy to read, and focused on improving your site’s search rankings. For more information on our content writing capabilities, or our other digital media marketing services, visit our contact page.