Your web content needs to be simple without being stupid. Just because you understand it doesn't mean everyone else will

 It's important that web content is at a reading level appropriate for the audience. Is yours?

Dumb down your web content by over-simplifying and you're bound to lose some respect-and some visitors. On the other hand, start throwing around syllable-packed words in sentences that never seem to end and your web cred will quickly go down the tubes. So where's the balance? How do you figure out what reading level is best for your site?

Start by testing the current readability level of your content by using the nifty little tool on Juicy Studio's blog post. Simply type in your URL, hit return, and presto, you have your results. Skip down to the bottom of the Results Summary and you'll see the Flesch-Kincaid Grade score. This is a rough measure of how many years of schooling it would take for someone to understand your content.

Now that you know the current reading level of your content, how do you figure out what it should be? Generally speaking, you should write at or below your audience's reading level without talking down to them.

Jakob Nielsen, a web usability expert, wrote an interesting post on lower-literacy users. He found that sites with a broader audience need to take lower-literacy users into consideration with the reading level of the copy. These sites could include government sites, health sites, and companies that sell mass-market products.

In these cases, Nielsen recommends using copy aimed at the Grade 6 level for the home page, landing pages, and other important category pages. He feels that other pages can handle a Grade 8 reading level.

On the other hand, there are some sites that target higher-literacy users. Nielsen notes that they can include B2B sites targeting professionals, e-commerce sites that sell high-end or intellectual products, public relations or investor relations areas of corporate sites, and content sites that cover scientific or other advanced topics.

Unfortunately, Nielsen doesn't mention what reading level is appropriate for these types of websites. My feeling is that, in most cases, you wouldn't want a reading level any higher than Grade 10. What do you think?

I did the readability test on my own website (www.wordsavvy.ca), and the content scored a 7.12 on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade score. Don't be offended. I believe that you can read at a level higher than Grade 7. I really do. But I also believe that most sites benefit from straightforward language. There really is no need to make people work to understand your content.

Emily Amos is a Halifax copywriter specializing in writing for the web. She helps companies convert more people into clients by writing key marketing messages that resonate. Check out some of her work at www.wordsavvy.ca.