Readability Checker

Hard-to-read websites lose customers

Most people decide in seconds whether a website is worth their time. If your homepage reads like a legal document, they don’t reach for a dictionary — they reach for the back button. Reading difficulty is invisible to the business owner who wrote the copy, which is exactly why it’s worth checking.

This tool gives your text a reading age: the age of the reader who would understand it comfortably. A reading age of 9 means almost everyone gets it. A reading age of 16 means half your visitors are struggling. Neither is “right” for every business — but you should know which one you’re publishing.

What the checker measures

• Reading age — derived from the Flesch-Kincaid grade level, the most widely used readability formula in the world. It tells you, in one number, who can comfortably read your text.
• Flesch Reading Ease — a score out of 100 with a plain-English label, from “Very easy to read” to “Very difficult”.
• Five more formulas — Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, SMOG, Coleman-Liau and the Automated Readability Index, each explained in one line, so you can see the full picture instead of trusting a single number.
• Concrete fixes — your longest sentences flagged with word counts, long words paired with simpler swaps (“utilise” → “use”), wordy phrases tightened (“due to the fact that” → “because”), and possible passive voice highlighted.

Why plain English sells

• More people understand you. Short sentences and everyday words don’t talk down to anyone — they include everyone.
• Visitors stay longer. Copy that’s easy to scan keeps people on the page instead of bouncing to a competitor.
• Your expertise still shows. Clear writing is a sign of confidence, not simplicity. The experts who explain things plainly are the ones people trust.
• Search engines notice. Google rewards pages that answer questions clearly. Readable copy is good SEO without trying to be.
• It works everywhere. The same habits improve your emails, quotes, proposals and social posts — not just your website.

How to use the checker

1. Paste your text — a homepage section, a service description, a blog intro. Thirty words or more gives the most reliable scores.
2. Click Check readability and read your reading age and Flesch score.
3. Work through the fixes: split the flagged long sentences, swap the long words, tighten the wordy phrases.
4. Paste the revised text back in and watch the reading age drop.
5. Aim for reading age 9–12 for a general audience. Technical audiences can go higher — deliberately, not accidentally.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Readability Checker really free?

Yes. Every check, every score and every report download is free, with no account needed. If you ask us to email you the report, we just need your name and email — you’ll get your report plus one follow-up email from us. No spam, ever.

What reading age should my website aim for?

For a general audience, aim for reading age 9–12. That’s the level most adults read comfortably and quickly, especially on a screen. If your customers are specialists — engineers, lawyers, doctors — a higher reading age is fine, as long as it’s a choice, not an accident.

Are the scores exact?

They’re close estimates, not exact science. The formulas are the same ones publishers and governments have used for decades, and the syllable counting behind them is a well-tested heuristic — but unusual words can be miscounted. Treat the scores as a practical guide: the direction of travel (simpler) matters more than any single number.

Does my text leave my computer?

No. All the analysis runs in your browser. The only thing that ever leaves your device is the report itself, and only if you ask us to email it to you.

Will simpler writing make my business look less professional?

The opposite. Clear writing signals confidence and respect for the reader’s time. The businesses that sound impressive are usually the ones that explain things so simply a busy customer gets it in seconds.

Get in touch

Want your whole website’s copy reviewed properly? Contact us or email [email protected] — we’ll find everything that’s holding your words back and tell you exactly how to fix it, in plain English. Or book a free 15-minute consultation.