How to write more readable blog posts

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Oct 28, 2022 / by
How to write more readable blog posts

In the early days of online marketing, blogs were not written to be read. Well, blogs written for SEO purposes were not meant to be read at least. Blog posts were often seen as little more than blank slates upon which to throw as many keywords as possible at and hope for the best. And it worked. But Google is a wiser beast now and the world of blogging is all the better for it.

Today, Google ranks pages based not on keyword density but on relevance, authority and readability. You’ll find thousands of articles giving you hints and tips on the former, but when it comes to the latter, there are precious few resources.

So, today we’ll be giving you some top tips on how to make your content read better, giving you more returning readers, more conversions and a better ranking to boot.

Keep paragraphs and sentences clear and short

This is one we can’t emphasise enough. Most people will be reading your content on a smartphone screen and large blocks of text on a small screen are not enticing for readers. This means your paragraphs and sentences should be short and to the point, where possible.

Start with a single short sentence and keep paragraphs to no more than four or five lines, breaking them up into smaller ones if they seem a little too bulky. Shorter sentences, meanwhile, are easier to read and digest. Between 10 and 20 words is the sweet spot to aim for and always steer clear of adjectives if you can. Adjectives add little more than flavour, after all.

Keep it simple

Blogs are meant to be read on the bus, the train, the sofa or (forgive us) the toilet. We’re not talking about Dostoyevsky here. So, while you might be a writer with a great love for the English language, try to reign it in while blogging.

Keep words to a maximum of three syllables and never use a more complicated word when a simpler one will do. Utilise, for example, should never be used in place of… well… use. This goes out the window if you’re writing for a certain niche, of course. But for the most part, keep the flowery language for that novel you probably have on the back burner.

Keep it varied

Repetition is boring. If a piece of content looks like 7 or 8 paragraphs that might as well have been copied and pasted, it’s not going to make people want to start reading. Alternate long and short paragraphs, don’t use the same word too often and mix up your transition words.

Also, never try to bulk out your content. If the brief calls for 500 words, for example, don’t stuff it full of guff at the end just to reach the word count. It’s always better to fall slightly short with a concise and consistent piece of work than to overegg it.

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