ProspectaMarketing endeavors to meet our clients marketing needs and extend their reach through every possible medium. Audiovisual elements are absolutely crucial in this endeavor and if you haven’t read our article on the core tenets of visual media, check it out immediately! However, another vital element we have covered on this blog – one that is at least as important as audiovisual media – is written content.

If you have read our article on the importance of engaging website copy, then you already know the core elements of creating this text-based content. However, how are you supposed to check if that content is tracking well with readers and getting the correct message across? In an arena like dental advertising, it can be even more important to transmit your goals and information effectively and objectively, as patients are often looking for health-related facts that leave little room for subjective writing. Readability checkers are, at least partially, the answer.

What Is A Readability Checker?

You can infer what a readability checker entails pretty easily by the name: it’s a tool used by blog specialists, website copy writers, and content creators the web over to ensure that their content is grammatically and structurally correct. However, it’s more than just a glorified spell-checker. A properly designed readability checker will also test your content for proper flow, repetition of words, transition phrases, and a host of other fluency and syntax standards. In short, it will make sure your work sounds as professionally written as possible.

There are three types of spell-checkers our blog team recommends when creating written content.

  1. Yoast Plug-in: This particular spell-checker mainly applies to WordPress users. If you’re generating content for a blog, mailing list, forum, or media gallery, using the Yoast Plug-in is a good way to check your progress. When enabled, it will show a color-coded symbol to the right of your blog posts in your blog viewing window in WordPress. The color ranges from red to green, respectively indicating low to high readability levels. Red means your post needs work, yellow means it’s almost there, and green means you’re good to go. The plug-in also enables a similar column with identical symbols for SEO optimization, which means you can use it to both check the accessibility of your text and test how high it will rank on search engines. Yoast not only lets you know that you Readability or SEO are low; it gives you suggestions to help you fix it. All the steps you can take are arranged in an easy-to-access drop down menu so you can easily get your post in the green.
  2. Microsoft Word Readability Checker: What if your written content is not being generated via WordPress? Our best tip is to either create your text entirely on a blank document on Microsoft Word (or a similar, text-based application), or at least copy paste it into a blank document before posting it to your preferred back-end web service. Why? Microsoft itself has a hidden readability checker that few people know about. Making use of it is easy and free! While you’ve got your Word document open, search the top row of toolbar options for the “Review” tab. Then, find the category titled “Spelling & Grammar.” At this stage, you’ll be able to choose spell-check options, but, depending on your version of Word, there should also be a category or option titled “Readability Statistics.” With this pop-up page, you will be able to access statistics like your text’s Fleisch Reading Ease Score. Metrics like this can be helpful in examining whether your text flows well and is understood easily by your intended target audience.
  3. Grammarly: Though focused primarily on grammar and spelling, Grammarly is also great tool for ascertaining how to improve the clarity, fluency, cohesiveness, and vocabulary of written content. It offers real-time assistance and a host of tools. The only drawback to this robust readability system is that most of the features are locked behind a paywall. The only free features are grammar and spelling!

Why Is Readability Important?

In an ever-evolving online landscape, your practice’s potential patients will have no patience for improperly written walls of text riddled with mistakes. They have the ability to quickly click away to another page and come equipped with the increased online literacy of a generation raised on the internet. These standards make readable content an absolute cornerstone to your advertising campaign.

At ProspectaMarketing, we can assign you a specialized blog writer and even help you iron out clunky marketing copy. We are an experienced Internet marketing firm specializing in dental practices and the tools of Internet marketing. We help you reach key prospects who are looking for what your practice has to offer. Our unique and thorough approach provides visibility, financial accountability, and ongoing refinement and improvement. You can find out more by contacting Lane Anderson toll-free at 1-877-322-4440 Ext 101, by email using the form on our Contact Us page, or online at ProspectaMarketing.com.