Digital marketing specialists know that content readability is critical for law firm blog posts. The purpose of these articles is to offer potential clients useful and reliable information. Anyone must be able to understand your blog posts, even someone with a basic level of education. But how do you make sure your website is easy to read?
How Is Content Readability Measured?
The question now is: How do you know that your law firm blog posts are easy to read? Most SEO-friendly content management systems (CMS) incorporate a readability calculator based on the Flesch Reading Ease formula.
This formula appeared in the 1940s. Rudolph Flesch, a consultant for the Associated Press news agency, was looking for ways to make newspapers easier to read by anyone. After devoting a lot of time to this issue, he came up with the following formula:
206.835 – 1.015 (total words/total sentences) – 84.6 (total syllables/total words)
It looks rather complicated, but no matter what numbers you add, the result will always be a number between 0 and 100. This is the Flesch reading ease score, with the following grading:
- 90-100 – very easy to read, 5th-grade level
- 80-90 – easy to read, 6th-grade level
- 70-80 – fairly easy to read, 7th-grade level
- 60-70 – plain English, 8th or 9th-grade level
- 50-60 – fairly difficult to read, 10th to 12th-grade level
- 30-50 – difficult to read, college level
- 0-30 – very difficult to read, graduate school level
Thus, the ideal readability score for law firm blog posts is between 100 and 60. As we mentioned above, you don’t have to do anything to measure your content readability. Your website backend will make all the calculations and tell you if your article is easy or difficult to read.
Helpful Tips to Make Your Law Firm Blog Posts Easier to Read
Our digital marketing specialists know what it takes to create well-written and easy-to-read articles. Here are the best practices.
1. Use Simple, Everyday Words and Phrases
You probably know all the legal terms and Latin phrases used in court. But you are not writing law firm blog posts for other lawyers, judges, or prosecutors. You are writing for regular people, who do not understand these terms. Thus, try to use them sparsely.
If you need to add them to a blog post, make sure you explain what they mean in simple words. As Einstein famously said, if you can’t explain something to a 6-year-old, you probably don’t understand it yourself.
Also, plain English is most likely to get your site found on Google searches by potential clients. Those who search for technical terms are most likely law school students, preparing their term papers.
2. Break Long Sentences into Shorter Ones
One of the factors in the Flesch Reading Ease formula is sentence length. Thus, to make your law firm blog posts readable, use short sentences. A reader will get lost in a long sentence, covering several lines. Consider the fact that they are under pressure to find a solution to their legal problem.
Thus, they are not fully focused, as worry is at the back of their mind. They may leave your site frustrated if your articles are too difficult to read.
3. Use Lists and Bullet Points
One of the simplest tactics to make your content easier to read is breaking large paragraphs with bullet points and numbered lists. For example:
- Bullet points are effective for sharing several ideas on the same topic
- Numbered lists indicate steps in a process, in a precise order.
These formatting elements also make your law firm blog posts look easier to read at a first glance. White space is necessary to help users scan articles and determine if they will take the time to read them.
4. Break the Text with Subheadings and Photos
A large block of text looks more difficult to read, even if it has simple words and short sentences. This is why we have so many subheadings, breaking the article into shorter sections.
Also, if you publish long-form law firm blog posts (over 1,000 words), add a photo or video somewhere in the middle. This will give the reader a much-needed visual break from the text.
5. Use Transition Words and Phrases
What are transition words and phrases? Consider the following:
- Also
- Thus
- Therefore
- For instance
- Moreover.
Their role is to make the transition from one sentence to another and from one idea to another. Readers will understand that you are about to give further information on a topic. Or, that you are moving on to the next idea.
6. Explain All Acronyms
When we speak of SEO with a new client, we start by saying its full name – search engine optimization. You should do the same with any kind of acronyms appearing on your site, even if they represent well-known federal or state agencies, such as:
- DMV – Department of Motor Vehicles
- BWC – Bureau of Workers’ Compensation
- FDA – Federal Drug Administration
- NHTSA – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Once you write the full name followed by the acronym, you can continue to refer to the respective agency by the acronym throughout the article.
7. Proofread and Edit Your Texts Carefully
Content readability includes every relevant aspect of good writing, including proper grammar and spelling. Always run your articles through spell checkers before publishing them.
You can use free tools that will help you correct even small punctuation errors. Alternatively, print your article and give it to someone to read. A fresh pair of eyes will spot a mistake that you may have missed.
Let Our Digital Marketing Specialists Create Your Law Firm Blog Posts!
Do you feel that following all these steps takes too much time? Don’t worry – the EverConvert team is here to help you. Our multidisciplinary team includes talented copywriters who will create high-quality and easy-to-read law firm blog posts for you.
We have extensive experience in writing for law firms and know exactly what your potential clients want to read. By showcasing your expertise in simple words, we will bring new visitors to your site and turn traffic into profits.
Let your site become a source of new clients – contact our specialists to help you with blog post writing!