When you are writing a blog post about a difficult or highly technical topic, making it readable can be a daunting task.

Your target audience may understand all of the technical jargon you are including in your post, but search engine optimization (SEO) is to attract a new audience that is currently outside of your reach. If your new audience does not have a complete understanding of your technical terms, you can lose them. Some may think of this as dumbing down their copy, but that does not have to be the case; these tips from a premier digital marketing agency in Seattle can help you with that.

Why Readability Matters

You want your audience to understand your writing and be able to follow it easily. If something is full of technical terms, overstuffed with keywords, or too dry to follow, you can lose readers. Your readers are coming to you to answer a question or fill a need, and if they struggle to read your text, they will move onto a different site with easier to read text.

Readability is also important for your SEO. Google’s algorithm is intended to read a text the same way a human does, so it has trouble reading sentences that are too long or filled with technical terms. When Google finds these kinds of text, they generally will rank lower than texts that have been adjusted to be easier to read.

But My Niche Requires Technical Terms

Some fields require you to use technical terms, and there really is no way to avoid it. You can still adjust your wording to make things more readable without removing the important technical terms. If the terms you are using are four syllables or more, if you can limit them or use synonyms that are a little easier to read, it can help your readability.

Making Complicated Topics Readable

Let’s assume you cannot — and probably should not — avoid using the necessary technical terms in your post. In that case, there are a few other things you can try to make your blogs more readable and better for your SEO and digital marketing efforts.

Shorter Sentences

The length of the sentences in your post is often something you can cut down. If a sentence is longer than 20 words, you can most likely cut it into two or even three shorter sentences. Trying to read a sentence that is well over 20 words can make your readers lose their place or stop reading altogether. If more than 25 percent of your sentences are longer than 20 words, shortening them up can help your readers and your SEO.

Filler Words

We all use filler words when writing or speaking, but they can be a big contributor to a wordy sentence. If you need to shorten some sentences, looking for and removing those filler words can be a huge help. Some common examples of filler words are that, just, really, only, almost, slightly, maybe, simply, actually, very, sort of, kind of, a little, and now. These are not always used as filler, sometimes they have a specific purpose in a sentence, but when you need to shorten things, it may be worthwhile for you to scrutinize their presence in each sentence.

Paragraph Length

Keep an eye on the length of your paragraphs, especially when you are writing something with a lot of jargon in it. Try to keep each paragraph focused on a single topic and put the most important sentence as the first one in each paragraph.

As is the case with lengthy sentences, long paragraphs can be difficult to follow and can scare readers away. If you find your writing having more than eight sentences, you should try to break those paragraphs up. It is perfectly acceptable to have a few one or two sentence paragraphs in your writing, so long as there is a need for them. Think of your writing as a meal, and your paragraphs are the bites people take when eating it. If you take too big of a bite, it can be harder to chew and swallow, so putting your paragraphs into smaller bites makes it easier for your reader to “eat” what you are trying to say in your post.

Transition Words

The proper use of transition words is another way to make your writing more readable because they show your readers how the things presented in your writing are connected. This is especially important in technical style writing, where not all of your readers may be familiar with the technical terms you are using in your blogs.

Transition words include and, but, so, because, as a result, and for instance. There are many more than this, but these are some of the more commonly used words to get you started.

Use Variety

Part of writing something your audience finds interesting is giving it a little variety. If every paragraph has the exact same number of sentences, and every sentence has about the same amount of words, it can begin to feel repetitive to a reader. Let some paragraphs be a little longer or shorter. It is okay to have some long sentences interspersed with the shorter ones.

When writing, try to change up your wording a little with synonyms when you can. If you find yourself using “too” all the time, change it to “also” or “additionally.” You are still getting your point across, but with some more interesting vocabulary.

Conclusion

You want readers to read your post to the end, so you need to have writing that is easier to read. Try not to over complicate your writing and shorten things up when you can.

Writing a blog with technical terms that is still readable and SEO friendly can be tricky. Seattle Digital Marketing can help you create content that is interesting and readable to any audience, allowing you to extend your reach beyond your current audience. Contact Seattle Digital Marketing today to get started.