How to Fix Hard-to-Read Content
An audit flagged this page as "difficult" or "very difficult" to read, meaning its readability score fell into the lowest bands (roughly a Flesch Reading Ease under 50). That points to long sentences, dense paragraphs, and complex vocabulary that make readers work harder than they should. Fix it by shortening sentences, breaking up paragraphs, swapping jargon for plain words, and adding structure like subheadings and lists. Cleaner writing keeps readers engaged and makes your pages easier for AI answer engines to extract and cite.
What this means
This flag comes from a readability score, most commonly the Flesch Reading Ease test, which rates text from 0 to 100 based on average sentence length and average syllables per word. Higher is easier. Your page landed in one of the two hardest bands: "difficult" (roughly 30 to 49, best understood by college graduates) or "very difficult" (roughly 0 to 29, aimed at university graduates reading legal, scientific, or academic text). It is a notice, not an error. Nothing is technically broken, and the page will still index and rank. The audit is telling you the writing is denser than most web readers expect, which usually means long, winding sentences, big blocks of text, and formal or technical vocabulary where a simpler word would do. A low score is not automatically wrong. Legal, medical, academic, and highly technical B2B pages read harder because the subject demands precise terminology. The goal is to match the reading level to your audience, not to chase a number for its own sake.
Why it matters
Google's John Mueller has said reading level is not a direct ranking factor, so do not expect a position bump just from simplifying text. The value is indirect but real. Content that is hard to parse tends to raise bounce rates and cut time on page, and those engagement patterns feed into how Google judges content quality over time. Readers skim on the web; when a paragraph looks like a wall of text, many leave before reading a word. There is also an answer-engine angle, and this is where readability increasingly pays off. Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity pull short, self-contained passages from your page to build their answers. Clear, direct sentences that each carry one idea are far easier for these systems to extract cleanly and quote accurately. Convoluted prose with nested clauses and undefined jargon is harder to lift, so a hard-to-read page is less likely to be summarized or cited. Simplifying your writing improves the human experience and your odds of showing up in AI-generated answers.
How to fix it
- 1
Shorten your sentences
Long sentences are the single biggest driver of a low readability score, because the formula penalizes high words-per-sentence averages. Aim for an average around 15 to 20 words and keep most sentences under 25. When you hit a sentence with two or three commas or a semicolon, that is usually two sentences trying to be one. Split it. A quick test: read it aloud, and wherever you naturally pause for breath, consider a full stop.
- 2
Break up dense paragraphs
Web readers scan, so keep paragraphs to two to four sentences and cover one idea each. A single 150-word paragraph is intimidating on a phone screen; the same content split into three short paragraphs feels effortless. This does not move the score itself (the formula counts sentences and syllables, not paragraphs) but it improves perceived readability and keeps people on the page. It also gives AI crawlers cleaner, self-contained chunks to extract.
- 3
Swap complex words for plain ones
The formula counts syllables, so multi-syllable words drag the score down. Replace them where a simpler synonym carries the same meaning: "use" for "utilize," "help" for "facilitate," "about" for "approximately," "buy" for "purchase." Keep the technical terms your audience genuinely needs, but define them the first time they appear. The aim is precision without pretension, not dumbing down.
- 4
Cut passive voice and filler
Passive constructions ("the report was reviewed by the team") are longer and slower than active ones ("the team reviewed the report"). Rewrite them so the subject does the action. In the same pass, delete filler that adds length without meaning: "in order to" becomes "to," "due to the fact that" becomes "because," "a large number of" becomes "many." Shorter, active sentences read faster and score higher.
- 5
Add structure with subheadings, lists, and bold
Break long sections with descriptive H2 and H3 subheadings so readers and AI crawlers can navigate. Convert any "there are three reasons" or step-by-step passage into a bulleted or numbered list. Bold the one key phrase in a paragraph so skimmers catch it. Structured content is easier to read and gives answer engines discrete blocks to pull into featured snippets and AI summaries.
- 6
Measure, then rewrite the worst offenders
Do not rewrite blindly. Run the page through a readability checker (the Hemingway Editor highlights long and hard sentences for free; Yoast and Rank Math show a Flesch score inside WordPress) to find the specific sentences dragging the score down. Fix those first. Re-run the audit to confirm you have moved out of the "difficult" or "very difficult" band, and stop once the reading level fits your actual audience rather than chasing a perfect 100.
Example
<!-- Before: one long, dense paragraph -->
<p>In the event that you are seeking to enhance the readability of your
content, it is advisable to utilize shorter sentences, given the fact
that sentence length is a primary determinant of readability scores,
and additionally you should endeavor to reduce the utilization of
complex multi-syllabic terminology wherever a simpler alternative can
be substituted without a loss of meaning.</p>
<!-- After: heading + direct answer + scannable list -->
<h2>How do I make content easier to read?</h2>
<p>Focus on three things: shorter sentences, simpler words, and clear
structure.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Shorten sentences</strong> to an average of 15-20 words.</li>
<li><strong>Swap complex words</strong>: use "use," not "utilize."</li>
<li><strong>Break up paragraphs</strong> to 2-4 sentences each.</li>
</ul>Restructure a hard-to-read section into short, extractable blocks. This version uses a descriptive heading, a one-sentence direct answer, and a list, which is easier for both skimmers and AI crawlers than a single dense paragraph.
Platform-specific steps
Both plugins show a readability analysis under the editor. Yoast's "Readability" tab flags long sentences, passive voice, and long paragraphs with red, orange, and green bullets; Rank Math shows a content score with similar checks and surfaces a Flesch Reading Ease number. Work through the flagged items until they turn green, but treat the checks as guidance, not gospel. A necessary technical term should stay even if the plugin dislikes it.
Shopify's blog and product editors have no built-in readability score. Draft in a tool like the Hemingway Editor first, then paste the cleaned-up text into the rich-text editor and apply its heading styles (H2, H3) and bulleted-list button for structure. For product descriptions, lead with a short plain-language summary before any spec-heavy paragraphs, so both shoppers and AI crawlers get the key point immediately.
Neither platform reports a readability score in the editor. Write and simplify your copy externally, then paste it in and apply the built-in heading and list formatting. On both platforms, split text into multiple text blocks or short paragraphs rather than one large block, since their default styling makes long paragraphs look especially heavy on mobile.
There is no editor to lean on, so bake readability into your workflow. Run copy through a readability linter or the Hemingway Editor before committing, and use semantic markup: <h2> and <h3> for structure, <ul> and <ol> for lists, one idea per <p>. If you author in Markdown or MDX, keep sentences short in source and let each paragraph stay focused. Consider adding a text-statistics check to your content CI so readability regressions get caught before publish.
Frequently asked
For general web content, aim for a Flesch Reading Ease score of 60 or higher, which maps to roughly an 8th-to-9th-grade reading level and is comfortable for most adults. Scores in the 60 to 70 "standard" range suit blogs, marketing pages, and consumer content. Specialized audiences (legal, medical, technical B2B) can sit lower without a problem, because the terminology is necessary and expected. Match the level to who you are writing for rather than treating one number as universal.
Not directly. Google's John Mueller has stated reading level is not a ranking factor, and Google does not run a specific algorithm that scores your text's grade level to rank it. The impact is indirect: easier-to-read content tends to hold attention longer, reduce bounce, and earn more shares and links, and those engagement patterns influence how Google assesses quality. So improving readability helps rankings through better user behavior, not through a direct scoring input.
Readability formulas only measure sentence length and syllable count. They cannot tell the difference between needless jargon and terminology your audience actually requires, so precise technical, legal, or academic writing naturally scores low. If your readers are specialists who expect that vocabulary, a "very difficult" score is acceptable. Focus on what you can improve without losing accuracy: shorter sentences, active voice, terms defined on first use, and clear structure.
Yes, and it is becoming one of the stronger reasons to care. AI answer engines extract short, self-contained passages from your page to build responses. Clear sentences that each state one idea are far easier for these systems to lift cleanly and cite accurately, while dense prose with nested clauses and undefined jargon is harder to extract. Writing a direct answer right after each question heading, in plain language, improves your chances of being quoted in AI-generated answers.
Paste your text into the free Hemingway Editor, which highlights hard-to-read and very-hard-to-read sentences and shows a grade level. On WordPress, Yoast SEO and Rank Math both display a Flesch Reading Ease score in the editor as you write. Microsoft Word can also show Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level after a spelling-and-grammar check. Use these to find the specific sentences hurting your score, then rewrite those rather than guessing.
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