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Readability

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Add a word, reduce comprehension: Shorter sentences are easier to understand than long, complex sentences. But how short? <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/one-caucasian-person-hand-holding-black-267531827" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>Image by Nelosa</em></a>

How long should a sentence be?

Short sentences are easier to understand than long sentences Add a word to your sentence, and you’ll reduce comprehension. Add...
Readability / Sentence length
<strong>How long is too long?</strong> People skip long paragraphs. So keep paragraphs short. <a href="https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/paragraph-sign-isolated-on-white-gm923355924-253457970" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>Image by Fabianodp</em></a>

What’s the best paragraph length?

Hit return more often The problem with long paragraphs is that they look hard to read. And because they look...
Paragraph length / Readability
<strong>How long is too long for your email newsletter?</strong> 600 words? 400? 200? <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/measuring-tape-9252256" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Image by Teresa Azevedo</em></a>

What’s the best email newsletter length?

People average 51 seconds on newsletters The No. 1 advice email newsletter subscribers have for e-zine senders? Keep it short....
Channels / / Message length / Readability
<strong>Does not compute!</strong> More than half of the adults worldwide have basic or nonexistent tech skills. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mockup-male-hand-holding-black-cellphone-529259842" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Image by Andrei Mayatnik</em></a>

World technology literacy skills: bad and getting worse

21% of adults are technologically illiterate Just 7% of adults around the world can manage conflicting requests to reserve a...
Readability
<strong>Words have power, and short words are more powerful than long ones</strong> So stop stressing over the number of words you should hit in your blog post or other content, and start focusing on the number of characters in your words.

How to hit the best word length for blog posts, other content

Choose Anglo-Saxon words, write to ‘you’ & more More than 80 years of readability research demonstrate that short words are...
Readability / Word length
<strong>Short and sweet</strong> Why write <em>employment</em> when you can write <em>jobs</em>? Save your readers processing time by choosing short words. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-june-28th-2018-word-1122939719" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Image by chrisdorney</em></a>

What’s the best length of a word online?

The New York Times averages 4.9 characters An editor once counseled me to change all the instances of employment in...
Channels / Readability / Web / Word length
<strong>Does your writing measure up?</strong> Learn how you can use readability measures to produce readable content. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-womans-hands-measuring-bar-graph-144543284" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Image by ESB Professional</em></a>

Measure, manage & report readability

4 more ways to use reading ease Paying attention to readability will help you reach readers, improve communication and boost...
Readability / Readability scores
<strong>Hit the right target</strong> What readability scores to aim for on three top readability tests. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/businessman-dart-bulls-eye-87320695" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Image by Creativa Images</a>

Measure reading levels with readability indexes

How to calculate readability with the Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid and Gunning Fog tests Since 1847, scholars and others have...
Readability / Readability scores
<strong>Count them out</strong> Just one-third of Americans have even intermediate skills at understanding stats. <a href="https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/human-crowd-forming-number-four-gm941195680-257255102" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>Image by MicroStockHub</em></a>

What’s the latest U.S. numeracy rate?

Fewer than 10% of U.S. adults are good with numbers Just 9% of Americans can identify the percentage of men...
Readability
<strong>Can they read you now? </strong>Half of Americans have basic or below-basic skills. <em><a href="https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/newspaper-paper-strips-gm509293542-85692799" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Image by Queensbury</a></em>

What’s the latest U.S. literacy rate?

Just 2% of global adults read at top level Little confession here: I’m a geek. While you’re out partying on...
Readability
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