Readability

Readability measures how easy your content is to read. It considers sentence length, word complexity, paragraph structure, and overall text density. Content that is hard to read drives visitors away.

Why readability matters

The average Irish adult reads at a level comparable to a 12-13 year old. If your content uses complex vocabulary, long sentences, and dense paragraphs, a significant portion of your audience will struggle to understand it.

Readable content keeps visitors on your page longer, increases the chance they will take action, and signals quality to search engines. Google uses readability metrics as part of its content quality evaluation.

Readability targets

Aim for a Flesch Reading Ease score of 60-70 (plain English). This means short sentences, simple words, and clear paragraph structure. Avoid jargon unless it is industry-appropriate for your audience.

Use short paragraphs (2-4 sentences), break up text with subheadings, use bullet points for lists, and keep sentences under 25 words where possible.

Content length

There is no ideal word count for all pages. Product pages and service descriptions should be comprehensive enough to answer every likely question. Blog posts and guides typically perform best at 1,500-2,500 words.

Thin content pages (under 300 words) are rarely useful enough to rank well. However, longer is not always better. Every paragraph should serve a purpose. Remove fluff.