Evaluating Content: Reading Level

Does your average target user understand the writing found on your Web site? Did you, or your content author, think to evaluate the reading level of your copy prior to publishing? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

If you’re a large organization farming out your Web writing or if you’re a small business with a DIY approach, I’m willing to bet that the author of your content is fairly educated. And while said author(s) can certainly write beyond the average high school student’s reading level it doesn’t mean they should.

One of the biggest problems I discover when I’m tasked with evaluating Web content lies in the reading comprehension level of copy. More often than not, it can be simplified, edited for brevity and structured into smaller paragraphs. Multisyllabic words (how’s that for confusing/technical word choice!) are often presenting reading problems and most of the copy is not optimized for scanning.

Too many sites are just too damn hard to understand for someone trying to find information, make an informed decision or complete a transaction (you know, the things that ultimately lead to that elusive ROI?).

Pharmaceutical manufacturers Web sites are notorious for having readability problems in copy. We’ll use drug maker Glaxo Smith Kline (Advair, Boniva, Paxil, Valtrex, etc.) for our evaluation purposes in discussing the importance of readability.

As you can see by the quick report above, GSK.com has an average reading level of grade 20. So, in theory, to understand the majority of the material on the site, one would have to have significant postgraduate education.

I may be going out on a limb here in assuming that a good chunk of the consumers who use GSK drugs and any potential investors may not have achieved masters or doctoral degrees. So, it should follow that when the less educated are reading through potential side effects of drugs, or are scanning for quick information about the company; this copy isn’t going to make them feel more at ease in using a GSK manufactured medicine or convince them the company is worth their investment dollar.

The problem with GSK mostly lies with a high instance of confusing words and complex sentences. More than 27 percent of the words found on the GSK site are “Complex” (Complex words are polysyllabic – having 3 or more syllables). Even worse are the more than 175 instances of long sentences (10-20 words or more).

How do you improve it? Simplify, my friends. Simplify.

Start aiming for writing copy that younger audiences will understand. I don’t believe that there’s necessarily a magic number, but I generally shoot for 6th to 8th grade. Most journalism schools teach new copywriters to scribe for that comprehension level. It should be no different for most Web sites, unless you have a highly specialized audience (think advanced Web programming, Law Libraries, etc.).

Granted, most drug manufactures create microsites to be more consumer facing and in line with the marketing campaign (Valtrex.com), but even these sites are writing to a high school reading level and using high percentages of confusing words. (Valtrex.com is appropriate for 11th graders FYI)

I’m also of the belief that if corporate sites are in your linking strategy on consumer facing sites (as is the case for GSK.com), you need to have both readable by the same audience, which is clearly not the case here.

Is pharmaceutical stuff sometimes difficult to understand? Absolutely. Do drug names often contain multiple syllables? Absolutely. Does that mean the rest of the content (including descriptions of symptoms the drug treats and potential side effects) needs to be difficult to understand? Absolutely not.

Having trouble getting there, or don’t know how to even get started in evaluating copy readability? It’s not really an exact science (that’s what great editors and content strategists are for), but fortunately, there are lots of nifty tools out there to evaluate this stuff. If you’re looking for a quick evaluation of a page on a site, Read-Able.com is a strong, visually appealing site to generate reports on existing reading levels that will help get your pointed in the right direction.

And, if you’re going to get started in evaluating reading level in web copy, here’s the three things you absolutely need to pay attention to, whether you hire a content strategist or not.

1. Flesch Kincaid reading level. This test is sort of the standard. It’s built into many word processing programs and will give you a general idea of how difficult the content is to digest. If the reading level is too high, cut back on confusing words, simplify sentence structures and utilize elements that make the page easier to scan. Too low? Beef it up a little. Too many syllables in you words? Try breaking them apart or separating thoughts.

2. Make your content brief! More often than not, site owners are trying to reach mass capacity with web content to be better optimized for search. It’s a major disservice to your users and to your governance plan. If you’re using 10 words, do it in five. Don’t use a paragraph when bullets or a diagram can say it better. Utilize checklists, how tos and walkthroughs instead of detailed descriptions or confusing language.

3. Use the common sense test. I know, this is asking a lot, but just like you know pornography when you see it, you’ll know confusing copy when you see it. Don’t be smart for smart’s sake. If you know an eighth grader, ask them if they get the gist of your copy. If they don’t, chances are a good chunk of your visitors don’t get it either.

What tools is your organization using to evaluate reading level? Is it something your strategists are building into their Web toolkits? If not, maybe it’s time you ask them to start doing so, because you may be missing out on conversions or customers.

Image courtesy Brian Talbot

How To: Avoid Invisibility With Your Personal Brand

How do you keep up with all of those different Web sites, and how do I build a web presence? It’s a question I often hear from friends, students and clients. I always respond to it the same way – Are you sure you want to be as transparent and public as I am? If the answer is yes, here’s my brief how-to on the best ways to stop being invisible online, through careful building of your personal brand and web presence.

Perhaps the most obvious would be to start snagging up your name on the popular social networking sites. If your exact name is available, get it. But if it’s not, I’ve found it helpful to stick to a similar user name or URL shortcode for EVERY service you use. Consistency is something search engines love. The more properties that you can duplicate your username or URL shortcode on, the easier you are to find. And if your last name isn’t quite as unique as “Eizans,” do the best you can to do a first last combo or a username that at least applies to you in some way. You’ll find that most of my property on the web is full first, full last (danieleizans).

Five sites you absolutely shouldn’t ignore include Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter and last, but certainly not the least important is building your own website on your own domain. Here’s a quick rundown on why these five things are important to being more visible on the web.

Personal Domain/Website: If your name is available as a dot com, grab it now! With your own web site, you can point it towards all of these other great properties and build your blog into it. If your name isn’t available, do your best to figure out something memorable that applies to you. Don’t get cute, unless you have a company that is tied to your name.

Once you begin adding content to the site, you’ll begin to rise in the search engine rankings, so long as your content is optimized correctly, have strong title tags, header information and include links in the body copy.

Building clean and optimized content is a whole other post I’ll probably get to later.

LinkedIn: If used correctly, your LinkedIn profile says everything about your professional reputation. It essentially serves as your amendable online resume, complete with instant access to your professional references. It’s also plugged in to job hunting tools and is highly functional and SEO friendly.

Since spending a good deal of time updating my resume, background and ACTIVELY asking for recommendations, I’ve gotten at least 1 to 2 job leads a week from my LinkedIn profile. Don’t settle for just listing the job title, fill out the descriptions. Sell yourself.

Flickr: If you have any skill with a camera, Flickr can be a great way to house your photos, tag them, optimize them and be sure they are providing traffic back to your web site. I use Flickr exclusively for all of my images on Diary of a Would-Be Chef and for a great deal of content that I’ve personally shot for this web site. It features an analytics suite that’s reasonably good at identifying where your traffic is coming from and if you choose to make your photos sharable and usable by other bloggers, you could get even more traffic back to your site depending on the publishing rights package you go with.

Several of my food photos are being used as stock art for other blogs, in blog headers and in recipe reprints. In exchange for that use, I require the blogger publishes my name and links directly back to my personal web site, and believe me, I get traffic from it. Flickr also allows you to add links to comments and HTML. Also, take advantage of tags and create one for your site that you’re using the photos on.

Facebook: This social networking giant is a bit of a no-brainer. But, in order to display your profile in the Google results, you will need to change your privacy settings. Sharing your other sites and just having your name attached to Facebook helps you to be more visible.

Twitter: Claim your username on Twitter (before someone else does) and make your bio about you, not just what you’re interested in. Admittedly, Twitter isn’t for everyone. It takes work to stay on top of who you follow and the topics you’re interested in. But having your username locked down isn’t a bad thing. And if you’re as busy as I am at times, you may find it much easier to provide quick updates through micro-blogging as opposed to taking the time to research and post a longer piece. At any rate, Twitter is growing like gangbusters right now and you should become acclimated with it sooner than later. Being on Twitter will only help your name get out there.

So that’s it. Those are the bare bones you need to get started. As you get those properties going, you can add others, like FriendFeed, Tumblr, etc., etc. Crawling out of the cave of invisibility isn’t terribly difficult, but it does take time and a real effort. Also, don’t forget that once you’re out, it’s impossible to crawl back in. So before you go crazy, make sure you don’t mind being found with a single keyword or two. You may regret it in the long run.

Photo Jonathan Phillip

Engaging content ALWAYS has an audience

One of the things I consistently hear from my clients (and friends for that matter) is that they don’t believe anyone will be interested in what they have to say.

How we produce product x isn’t exactly exciting bedtime reading, they’ll say. For you and I, it may not be, but believe me, there’s something for everyone out there. l know this, simply from the wealth of custom publications that come across my desk each month. Take  Potato Grower as an example. While the science of spuds means absolutely nothing to me, it’s probably incredibly engaging for people who’s lives revolve around these little brown bombs.

Sure, it’s no Esquire, but the copy is well written, and the photography is interesting (Read as: not just pictures of roots and dirt.). Best of all, Potato Grower asks for and takes part in -get this- discussions! The magazine focuses on both individual growers and products. It lifts up the common potato farmer onto a pedistal, sounding off on their issues and telling their stories in a very compelling way. Best of all, the magazine embraces the flaws of the industry as well as the successes. That content has kept spud enthusiasts coming back for 38-years.

If potatoes can grab eyeballs and start conversations, it shouldn’t be that difficult for you (or your brand) to strike up a few discussions of your own. How do I do it you ask? In my humble opinion these are the five absolute musts for creating engaging content.

1. Be Human

People read your content, so it follows that you should be able to act and write  like a person as well. If you’re writing a blog, whether it’s corporate or not, the authors should present themselves as human beings. If it seems like a strange concept, it shouldn’t be. There are faces behind everything, whether those faces are running a business, government or a household (my wife Vita, for instance, is pretty much the loudest voice behind this particular geek’s domain). Tell me something. Don’t focus on the masses. If you make it personal and human, I’m more likely to comment and a lot more likely to become engaged with your message, your brand and the people that make it special.

2. Ask me what the hell I think!

This applies for anything in life, not just custom content. Whether you’re publishing a magazine, blog or telling a story, you have to ask your audience what it thinks at some point. If you never pose the question, you’re simply an orator, and eventually you’ll lose your audience. Everyone, I mean EVERYONE, has a threshold at which they’ll no longer want to listen to a talking head. If you ask people for input, you’ll get it. It’s a simple concept, but one that is far too often ignored by content providers (especially brands) that think they know what their consumers are thinking.

3. Empower the right voices

I can’t stress the importance of  having a strong voice for your content. If you’re launching a new vehicle, I don’t want the message via canned press release, or your graying CEO struggling to climb out of the car. I want the enthusiastic gearhead, an articulate designer or a fanboy presenting it to me and to the world. If your executive set is engaging (Think Steve Jobs of Apple), by all means, let them do their thing. But if you have a boring voice, chances are pretty strong that no one will be paying attention to what you’re saying. Personally, I think Ford Motor Company has done a fantastic job of empowering some amazing voices to help create content and engage both their fans and critics. Yep, I’m talking about Scott Monty. (Eds note: If you don’t read or follow Scott, you’re missing out on a true Social Media/Content soldier).

4. Be topical, but don’t grandstand

I don’t want to read only about your company, your product or you. I want your take on things within your greater industry or organization. I want to know what you think about current issues that may factor into your business or your product. If you’re only talking about what you do, you’re not growing and you’re no longer being a source of information. Remember, we already said we were going to be human in rule number one. Last time I checked, humans were citizens of earth and thus, should reflect the world around them.

5. Have a strategy

So, you have the engagement, you’re a better steward in the fight to keep your customers informed, but that’s really not enough. Make sure you develop a theme or message, one that goes beyond your corporate or personal tagline. Keep your strategy consistent with your vision or the vision of the organization. Again Scott Monty does this incredibly well. On his Twitter feed he keeps his messages personal, but always frames his message with Ford’s vision and tagline in mind. After you read a few of Scott’s tweets, you’ll realize he’s being entirely congruent with Ford’s turnaround plan and really does embody the “Drive One” mentality of today’s Ford Motor Company.

Finally, just remember that once you get the engagement, respond. It’s great that you have a lot of comments, but if you don’t talk back, it’s no longer engagement and it’s certainly not a conversation. Have fun out there.