Writing Content to Achieve a Higher Readability

• Sep 17, 2020
• 5 min read

In a professional landscape that necessitates the use of the internet, interesting concerns arise. Although this trend has been recent, it has prompted the rapid growth of content marketing, and digital marketing in general. While visibility, in a way, has always been important to a company’s growth, never has it been more important than now. The ease of setting up an internet presence has, in turn, made it increasingly difficult to actually make it to the top – in this case, rank on search engines. 

This is particularly important for B2B marketers, who often attempt to reach out to a base that is unfamiliar with their work altogether. So the question is: how do you approach this? How do you ensure that your niche does not drown into oblivion in the internet’s abyss? 

If you’re a novice in digital marketing, stick around as we explore how paying attention to the way you write and organize content is the most reliable game changer. 

If you think about it, it’s really just a matter of common sense. What ranks on the internet is what people can read and understand easily. The idea is not to dilute what you have to say, but how you say it. It should be – and here’s the keyword – readable. Readability is an important metric that tells you whether the layperson can understand what it is that you’re talking about. This means that you’ll have to use your jargon sparingly, a task that becomes tricky the more specialized your domain is. 

The goal is simple: If you want your audience to widen, your language has to become more accessible. Once that happens, your content becomes more approachable, spreads wider and increases the chances of converting customers. 

 

What can you do to ensure readability?

There are innumerable steps you can take to make sure that the ticker against readability does not go red. 

 

Position yourself as the reader:

When you’ve been involved in a niche job for a long time, some lines blur. It’s easy to forget, when you’re talking to someone outside your workspace, that both of you aren’t on the same page. Try to position yourself a reader looking for a concise introduction in whatever you’re talking about. As for writing, this means that you have to put things in context and explain difficult terms and concepts as you would to a total newcomer – a surprisingly effective way to reduce jargon. 

 

Avoid passive voice as much as you can:

It’s far easier to fall into this issue than one would think. Fortunately metrics tell you when you’re shooting the limit, often giving you a percentage count of how much of your text is in passive voice. Passive voice is generally used in academic or technical writing, whereas active voice is considered more conversational. For the purposes of sounding approachable, active voice makes more sense. 

 

Keep it concise:

This applies to sentences, paragraphs, entire section even. Readability is not just easy-to-understand text, but it is also about a visually appealing/accessible arrangement. If a user stumbles upon your webpage only to find it thoroughly cluttered, rest assured, they’re not converting. 

 

Kill your darlings: 

This one’s a no-brainer. Eliminate words that are not necessarily. Using excessive language often alienates a reader. Remember, you’re not aiming for literary genius here: just enough to reach out to your intended audience. 

 

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