Make Your Blog Easy to Read:
Heck, even a Ph.D can.
Heck, even a Ph.D can.
Which blog do you prefer? One that makes easy things hard to understand? Or one that makes difficult things easy to understand?
In “Is your blog easy to read?” Muhammad Saleem recommends the second. He also guides bloggers to an online readability tool to test the reading level of your blog.
Guess what readibility level I rated? Yep. I write like I’m in grade school.
I’d say that’s not bad for a gal who has also written stuff like Ensemble-average equations of a particulate mixture. 
I used the tool to test Volokh.com a blog written by a bunch of law professors: they write at the junior high level.
I bet you’re wondering about Muhammad Saleem’s blog’s readibility level? Highschool.
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12 Responses to “Make Your Blog Easy to Read: Heck, even a Ph.D can.”
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I got postgrad for Musings,elementary for Gizmos and high school for NY. I guess I’m an enigma when it comes to writing. LOL
I didn’t even check The Knitting Fiend! I checked ReadWriteWeb– they came out Post Grad. So, I guess their obfuscation index is high!
Lol I am writing a junior high level. Apparently ProBlogger is a genius lol!
I think Mu’s advice is wise in general. That said, I’m always a bit suspicious of these tools which should never be used blindly. The difficulty is that clear communication sometimes requires longer words or more complex sentences and even equations. It may also require the use of “terms of art” which are often called “jargon” by those outside a particular field.
At other times, entirely jargon-free short sentences with smaller words are better. It all depends on what you are communicating and the interest of your audience.
That said, blogs are rarely platforms to discuss high-level research with specialists in the field. So, generally speaking high-school or below will be the appropriate reading level for our content.
Why would Google.com be rated Genius unless this is precoded in the app. They hardly have any text on site. But Genius??? (smells like a ki$$ a$$ to me)
Dang it, I really have to think about this when I am blogging. I was thinking it was pretty easy, but I got post-grad on the site. Yikes!
The style of writing and the clarity of expression within a given “reading level” have as much a part to play in the readers that you attract as the complexity or lack thereof.
For example if my blog said things like “colourless ideas sleep furiously” on any regular basis it is easy enough to read but comprehension would be another issue.
All my efforts came out as Elementary even where I used complex formula…
@Matt– I think it’s hilarious that formulas still come out Elementary!
@5ubliminal — Google’s search page is PostGrad?! Heh!
@Kristen — Do reserve judgment about “post grad” being a bad thing. Later on, I found some “post grad” blogs that were easy to read. I don’t know what the algorithm checks. They may check sentence length, they may look for multi-syllable words. Depending on content, you might need to use multi-syllable words.
I in Elementary School, just where I wanted to be. I guess the thing only checks the front page. Mine really should be all over the map, at least up to high school.
Genius on all my blogs. Does that mean they are hard to read? AUUUGGGGGHHHHH.
We should all be proud that we write like grade schoolers. I am going to have to modify my blog so that my four year old can understand it. I would rather read a blog that I can understand than one that I have to concentrate into the weeeeeeee hours on.
interesting. i just reread one of virginia satir’s bios - she was/is one of the most important therapists in the US - and she stated, “if a writer can’t be understood by a four year old, he probably doesn’t understand it himself”