What is Your Blog Readability Level?
Have you ever been curious as to the amount of education necessary to read and understand your work?
Not the education or talent of the author, but the level of education the reader needs to be able to put your work to good use.
I calculated mine based on a standard readability formula. It’s a fairly simple straight forward calculation.
- Calculate the average number of words you use per sentence.
- Calculate the average number of syllables per word.
- Multiply the average number of words by 0.39 and add it to the average number of syllables per word multiplied by 11.8.
- Subtract 15.50 from the result.
- Algorithm: (0.39 * average_words_sentence) + (11.8 * average_syllables_word) - 15.9
But, if you are not a math fan and trust the calculations of others The Blog Readability Test site will do it for you if you past in the site address. Here is the link if you want to check your own.
Here are the results of the readability scale of some of the sites I read on a regular basis. Bye the way, the results change with every new addition of material. So, a college level site can on one day can be a junior high school level site the next day.
- Blogging for Business - Junior High School.
- Make it Great - Junior High School.
- Converstations - Junior High School.
- MindTweaks - Elementary School
- Kyles Cove - Junior High School
- JD’Blog - Genius Level
- 37 Signals - Elementary School Level
- Ians Messy Desk - Junior High Level
- Lifehacker - High School Level
- ElementalTruths - Junior High Level
- Steve Pavlina - Genius Level
- Seth’s Blog - High School Level
I monitor my site pretty closely because I want to keep my writing simple and clear enough so that it is easy to undertand and yet precise enough to give the background information for further growth. Junior High level is about that level for most people.
Consider that, Moby Dick, Macbeth, Of Mice and Men, The Once & Future King, and Treasure Island are all written on the Junior High to High School reading levels (right around 8th grade, actually).
What reading level is needed for the sites you read, and if you are a writer do you take the reading level into consideration when you work?
December 22nd, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Hi Reg,
Thanks for the scoop on where to test your blog for readability. I’m going to head over there right now and check soupornuts.com.
I know that it’s easy to assume that everyone reads at the same level that you or I do, but this is not the case. Simplicity = more readers.
December 22nd, 2007 at 6:02 pm
I feel pretty good. Soupornuts.com reads at the Junion High School level. I didn’t know that I’d ever be thrilled to say that.
December 22nd, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Well Chris, you’re in good company. USA Today is written on about a 9th-10th grade level. U.S. News and World Reports is on a high elementary level. Remember most studies place the reading level of the average American somewhere between 7th and 8th grade. And as you say, greater readability equals more readers.
December 23rd, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I love wandering onto blogs and finding mine! Thanks Reg: )
Yepp, I do keep “readability” in mind, and work hard at breaking sentences into soundbites. I like to cover some pretty tough concepts from time to time (at least when I’m writing about something other than not writing) and keeping the reading level low helps with making mind-bending ideas much more comprehensible. If the formula took vocabulary and obscure symbolism into account, I expect I’d score much differently some days… neuroplasticity and World Trees ain’t exactly the kiddie pool!
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:17 pm
I expect you’re right.
I believe the automated program only looks at your latest entry.
For example I checked your article on “The World Tree…” scores in at the high school level.