YOAST SEO’s Readability Score is a Laugh Riot

There’s an internal “checklist” within Yoast SEO that gives every blog I write a “Readability Score.”

 

It’s lame.

 

Really lame.

 

It tells me my blog posts aren’t very readable.  I commonly get a red readability score. Red is bad!

 

Excuse me?

 

This is because I write sentences that are  frequently 20 or more words long.

 

I’m sorry, but you know what? The people who read my blogs have actual brains.

 

And I’m a good writer, so my long sentences aren’t convoluted; they’re straightforward and easy to comprehend.

 

Apparently I use too many big words, too. Words like convoluted, straightforward and comprehend.

 

I don’t write for ignoramuses. I write for intelligent people who read a lot.

 

So apparently Yoast’s SEO “readability score” is designed to make blog posts intelligible to third graders with anemic vocabularies.

 

Sorry, that isn’t my tribe, my target audience, my people.

 

My tribe is curious, reads a lot, and wants to know more about the stuff I know a lot about, whether it’s animals, DeForest Kelley, progressive politics, or anything else that floats my boat. (There’s one of those nasty “20-plus word  sentences” for you.)

 

So I’m calling phooey on Yoast SEO’s readability score.

 

I’m a freaking professional copy, content and features writer, for gosh sakes!

 

I make my living as a professional writer!

 

What I write is easily understandable to a sixth grader and anyone older than that who has been taught to read and has decent comprehension skills.

 

Yoast SEO’s readability score is laughable!

 

In fact, lower down on the page, Yoast tells me my Flesch Reading Score is great, that what I write is understandable and well-written. So, go figure!

 

Thank you Yoast SEO for these valuable insights! HA HA HA HA HA

 

If I wrote to satisfy Yoast SEO’s readability score, I’d be writing children’s stories to second and third graders.