Readability archives

Journalists have been using the inverted pyramid writing style for ages. Using it, you put your most important information upfront. Don’t hedge. Don’t bury your key point halfway down the third paragraph. And don’t hold back; tell the complete story in the first paragraph. Even online, this writing style holds up pretty well for some …

Using transition words in your writing can help you enhance the readability of your content. They help your text flow and show readers the relationship between phrases and paragraphs. That’s why the readability checks in Yoast SEO provide feedback on your use of transition words. But what are transition words, and why are they so …

Using the right keywords is essential in SEO. Because using the words your audience searches with will help your posts and pages rank. That’s why we always tell you to try to find the perfect keywords for optimizing your articles. So, after finding the perfect keyword, why shouldn’t you use it repeatedly? Why would you …

We often get the question of how long an online text should be. As this often depends on different factors, giving just one answer is difficult. But looking from an SEO and user-oriented perspective, there is a rule of thumb you can follow. We advise writing more than 300 words for posts or pages, while …

The paragraph length check in Yoast SEO (for WordPress or Shopify) tells you to write shorter paragraphs when they are too long. But why is this important? What does a good paragraph even look like? And lastly, what should you do to keep your paragraphs concise? Let’s explore! Why your paragraphs shouldn’t be too long Properly sized …

If you’re a user of Yoast SEO for WordPress or Shopify, then you’re familiar with the traffic lights in our plugin. Three parts of Yoast SEO use this system: our content analysis, readability analysis, and inclusive language analysis. The first checks whether your post or product pages are SEO-proof, while the readability one checks if …

Not sure why you’re not ranking #1 for your focus keywords in Google? You might be making one of the mistakes a lot of site owners make. We see it happen a lot. From small local businesses to big corporate ones, lots of websites forget a few important things. Here, we’ll give you an overview …

At Yoast, we like to say: “Content is king”. But what does that mean? In short, it means you need content to rank. But not just any content. It needs to be meaningful and original. In this SEO basics post, we’ll explain why you need content to make your site attractive for visitors. We’ll also …

Headings help users and search engines to read and understand text. For example, they act as signposts for the readers, making it easier for them to figure out what a post or page is about. Headings also define which parts of your content are essential and show how they’re interconnected. Here, we’ll give you pointers …

Are you aiming for that number 1 position in the search results? And do you madly chase traffic and clicks? It’s not easy to achieve all these things on your own. Luckily, Yoast is here to help. In this post, we’ll talk you through optimizing your post in the best possible way. We’ll explain the …