Text Readability

I ran my most recent WordPress blog, Communication Skills of a Person With a High EQ, through the Text Readability Consensus Calculator (link to my results is here – https://readabilityformulas.com/freetests/six-readability-formulas.php).

My results are as follows; Grade Level is 10, Reading Level is “fairly difficult to read”, and Reader’s Age is 14-15 years old (9th-10th graders).

Per the FOG Index Calculator, “The ideal score for readability with the Fog index is 7 or 8. Anything above 12 is too hard for most people to read”. My results were on the higher side at a 10. According to the book I am studying for Business Communications, it is recommended that sentences be under 20 words, and paragraphs between 40-80 words. My first full paragraph I have 10 sentences which consisted of well over 80 words.

Another factor that the FOG Index doesn’t take into account is the use of multi syllabic words, which I use in my text. One of the flaws in this system is “it discounts that not all multi-syllabic words are difficult”.

I could improve my post by using less words per sentence and also breaking up my paragraphs.

I do agree with the concept of the FOG Index, but it is not perfect. I also believe that the ‘difficulty’ of reading/writing should reflect the target audience and concept of the writing. I am personally going to be more aware of the fact the being short, sweet and to the point is almost always best for writing emails and blogs!