The Flesch Reading Ease Score is a readability metric that assesses the ease with which a text can be understood by readers. This score uses a formula that considers the average sentence length and the average number of syllables per word to calculate a score between 0 and 100. A higher score indicates that the text is easier to read.
The formula for the Flesch Reading Ease Score is:
206.835 – (1.015 × Average Sentence Length) – (84.6 × Average Syllables per Word)
Some examples of the Flesch Reading Ease Score and their interpretations:
| Reading Ease Score | Reading Grade Level | Easy to read? |
|---|---|---|
| 90-100 | 5th grade | Very easy |
| 80-90 | 6th grade | Easy |
| 70-80 | 7th grade | Fairly easy |
| 60-70 | 8th – 9th grade | Plain English |
| 50-60 | 10th-12th grade | Fairly difficult |
| 30-50 | College | Difficult |
| 0-30 | College Graduate | Very difficult |
Uses of the Flesch Reading Ease Score include:
- Content optimization: Writers and editors use the score to gauge the readability of their content and make necessary adjustments to improve clarity and engagement.
- SEO: Search engines consider readability (an aspect of quality) in ranking webpages. Using the Flesch Reading Ease Score can help optimize content for better search visibility.
- Education: Teachers and textbook publishers use the score to ensure that learning materials are appropriate for the intended grade level.
- Legal and governmental communications: Some U.S. states have laws requiring insurance policies and other legal documents to meet a certain Flesch Reading Ease Score to ensure they are understandable to the general public.
- Accessibility: The score can help ensure that texts are accessible to a wide range of readers, including those with lower literacy levels or learning disabilities.
While the Flesch Reading Ease Score provides a useful benchmark, it's important to note that it doesn't account for factors like content complexity, word familiarity, or reader background knowledge. Therefore, it should be used in conjunction with other readability metrics and human judgment when assessing and optimizing text comprehension.
Using the Flesh Reading Ease Score in WordPress
The All in One SEO (AIOSEO) WordPress plugin has a built-in Flesch Reading Ease Score. After installing AIOSEO, you can navigate to any page on your website, open the AIOSEO sidebar, click on Readability and scroll down to find your page score.
Improving your page score can be done by using shorter sentences and paragraphs and avoiding “$10 words.”
Tip: Follow George Orwell's 6 Rules for Writing.
And see our video on using the Flesch Reading Ease Score to get more traffic.