The New Yorker is written at 5th-grade level. The New York Times at a 6th-grade level. The Economist at an 8th-grade level. They all have lots of subscribers, and I’ve never heard anyone say they feel “talked down to.” I read The New Yorker and the Times regularly, and their articles are well-written, engaging and often memorable. Yes, it’s because experienced, professional writers and journalists provide the stories, and editors  make sure facts are correct and copy is free of typos and grammatical mistakes.   But as it happens, well-written articles are structured in a way that 5th (or 6th etc.) graders could grasp. 

 Readability scoring criteria are based on:

• The number of sentences in an article.
• The total number of words in the articles.
• How many words per  sentence.
• How many syllables per word.

The lower the number, the better. I find the writing in The Times and The New Yorker engaging, clear and easy to understand. Keep this in mind as you write copy for your website and your blog.  Forgive me if this seems obvious, but good readability is an essential best practice. And if people buy products directly from your website, it’s a key element in driving profitability.

This post is written at a readability level that is somewhere between 5^th and 6^th grade.

How to Check the Readability Score for Your Copy

It’s easy to check your own readability score using Microsoft Word. I use Office 2010. These instructions are for Office 2007, but are easy to apply to 2010, as I did.  (This is copied from Microsoft’s website.)

First, set Word up so you can check readability scores: (link)

1.      Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Word Options.

2.     Click Proofing.

3.      Make sure Check grammar with spelling is selected.

4.     Under When correcting grammar in Word, select the Show readability statistics check box.

 To check Check spelling and grammar in Word (link)

1.      Open a Word document that needs to be checked.

2.     On the Review tab, in the Proofing group, click Spelling & Grammar.

3.      The Spelling and Grammar dialog box appears. The first suggested correction is highlighted.

 After you go through the proofing process, Word will display your readability score. Then you can go back to your document, edit and recheck until you reach the score you’re looking for.

P.S. There’s a reason I didn’t italicize or underline the names of the publications. I want you to focus on what is in boldface. Italics and/or underlining distract your eye and your attention away from boldface type. Also, don’t underline anything in your web or blog copy unless it’s a hyperlink. That’s a web best practice.

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