All About Text Readability: What It Is, How to Check It, and How to Reduce It

Recently, the quality of the texts featured in leading search engine results has significantly improved. Imagine that earlier search engines often overlooked worthless textual materials that were almost entirely made up of a single keyword. For commercial web resources, this was great because the more keywords they utilized, the higher their chances of being seen by users.

But what benefit does this provide to users? Practically none. Agree that reading a string of keywords, which are unrelated to one another, is far from interesting.

At some point, Yandex and Google decided that changes were necessary, introducing strict limitations on the number of keyword combinations. They began using various filters and programs that evaluate the content quality of websites. As a result, nowadays any resource that exceeds the allowable spam indicators may be banned or lose its position in the rankings.

Thanks to such innovations, the quality of web pages has become significantly better. The aim of these adjustments was to elevate the content to perfection, making it literate and useful for users. If you are not familiar with the implications of spam and limitations, as well as how to write proper texts, this article will be helpful for you.

Spam – What It Is and How to Calculate It

Spam is referred to as the excessive use of one and the same word or phrase within a single text. That is, if a certain word is overused in the article in any direction, the spam indicator will increase. This indicator is calculated as follows: the number of times a specific word is used is divided by the total number of words and then multiplied by 100%.

Let’s take an example. Imagine there is an article about velociraptors, where this word is used 30 times. The total number of words in the text is 900. We divide 30 by 900 and multiply by 100%. We get 3.333%. How do we assess this indicator? It indicates that the article consists of 3.3% of one and the same word, which is quite a lot. Such a text will definitely be flagged by search filters as spam.

When writing text, it is important to keep the spam indicator below 2%. If it lands between 2% and 3%, the probability of ranking positions decreasing will diminish. Well, if spam is 3% or higher, your page is likely to be banned altogether.

Density and Proximity of Keywords

Keyword proximity is another important criteria for text quality. It refers to the distance of keywords throughout the article. It should be quite large and ideally evenly distributed. Moreover, there should be no less than 400-450 characters between the keywords. Even if you use a keyword three times, but place them all in one paragraph, filters will consider this a violation.

So what is keyword proximity? It includes all variations of keyword usage (declension forms), as well as the phrases that come with the keyword in a single search query. For example, let’s take the same velociraptor, which we discussed earlier. Along with it, one might use the words “dinosaur,” “fierce,” “predator.”

It is also necessary to distinguish between classical and academic density. Classical density is the square root of the number of repetitions of the most frequently used word in the article. The meaning of this indicator is an absolute figure, and it will not depend on the size of the article.

On the other hand, academic density is a more significant indicator since it depends on the overall volume of text. For its verification, special services are applied, so there is no need to remember how it is calculated.

What Level of Spam Is Acceptable?

When the text is written and checked for mistakes, it must definitely be checked for the level of spam as well. For this, various programs and services are used. The text is entered into a special field provided for it, after which the program generates a spam indicator.

Let’s go through the possible results:

• Less than 30%. The most ideal variant of spam. The optimal number of keywords has been used, and they are evenly spaced throughout the text. This content is beneficial for users and for optimization.
• 30-60%. The most commonly encountered variant. The optimization of the content has been executed well. Search systems will not apply filters for the given site. The text is useful and relevant.
• 60% and more. This variant is known as over-spam. Such text hardly holds value for the reader, and search engines will likely downgrade its position in search results.

A little later, we’ll discuss what other services can be used to determine spam levels.

The Most Popular Filters in Search Systems

The Yandex search system is actively engaged in site optimization, although it does not speak directly about it. Let’s look at the filters currently being implemented for this purpose.

“Over-spam”

It was first used in the winter of 2010, and it is considered a query-based filter. This is also called “bonus” or “-20”. It focuses only on one keyword; as a result, its position can drop by up to 25 points. This filter can easily be manipulated, simply by altering the key phrase. For example, replacing “Buy a sports costume” with “Buy sports costumes” or “costumes are sports to buy.”

“Over-optimization”

This filter emerged in late 2011, and it completely influences the entire document. That is, when limitations are applied to a page, the entire group of queries drops significantly. Ultimately, the position decreases by 10-15 levels, and the page immediately falls off the TOP-10 list. To avoid affecting the given filter, it is essential to completely rewrite the text and reduce its volume.

“New”

It began to be applied for the first time in the middle of 2014. It consolidates within itself some functions of the two described filters. If a highly spammy indicator appears under its application, the page practically disappears from the search results. In this case, the entire site suffers, since its position also becomes invisible. In order to fix this, either the entire article must be rewritten or one third of the material must be removed, correct mistakes, and cut down the number of keywords.

“Panda”

It appeared in 2011, and its main goal is to regulate the quality results of search outputs for users searching for something. Thanks to this filter, a ranking of the relevance of web resources is formed. The greater frequency of use a site has, the better its place. But if it turns out that the page contains spammed information, is over-optimized, and contains errors in the text, its position will thus drop somewhere at the end.

The “Panda” filter also checks the adequacy of the reference mass and monitors how long users spent on the page and how often they visited it. To avoid flags from Panda, the site itself needs to be improved; that is, it should be made comfortable and understandable for users. It is also necessary to add only unique and highly beneficial articles to the site.

“Colibri”

The filter named “Colibri” began functioning in 2013. It significantly outpaces previous filters in “intellect” level, as it is capable of interpreting logical queries from a person. Notably, it influences site traffic, improving the position of those resources that have a higher relevance indicator. This is more of a plus than a minus, so filtering through Colibri is not poor at all. To correspond with the desires of Colibri, it is necessary to post on the web resource correct, direct, and literate information that answers the query directly.

In Conclusion, Considering Filter Applications:

• In the modern world, texts designed for working individuals carry no value and may harm your site.
• The more keywords you use in one text, the more bans will be imposed on you.
• To take a top position in search results, you need to present unique and useful texts without errors.
• The attendance of the site increases when pictures, diagrams, and other media components are placed on it.

On What Services Can Spam Be Checked?

We will tell you about two of the most requested and user-friendly services for spam checking – TEXT.RU and ADVEGO.COM.

TEXT.RU

This site stands out with its user-friendly interface and attractive external appearance. When entering the site, you need to go to the “SEO-analysis” section. Then you have to paste your text in the emerging window and wait a few seconds. We will take, for instance, a piece of text from the current article you are reading and check it for spam and other characteristics.

As you can see, the spam indicator is practically ideal. There is no over-spam, which means this article is informative, useful, and literate. The spam words highlighted here have been marked in violet, and they are also separately listed in the table.

If there are any issues with the text, it can be modified directly on the site, after which it can be rechecked.

ADVEGO.COM

This is the second most popular and free online service for checking. You also need to select “SEO-analysis of the site” here, after which paste the text and wait a couple of seconds exactly. Pay attention to two indicators – classical and academic density. In our case, it is also recorded within the limits of the norm to 15%. Below you can often see the frequency of each word.

Naturally, you may have a question regarding the disparity. Why does it show 19% on Text.ru and a full 65.6% on Advego? The reason lies in the different calculation methods. However, for Advego, the ideal indicator is considered to be in the range of 55-75%, therefore, the text is recorded within the boundaries of the norm.

ISTIO.COM

In addition to this, we propose one more free service that stands out for its simplicity. You need to enter the text and click the “Analysis” button. Like the previous services, a personalized calculation system is also offered here. You can see how often each of the words is repeated, evaluate spam density, and identify words that need replacement.

This service also has something interesting in it. This section is under the name “Text Map.” There, you can see all the repeated words. Those that appear most frequently have the largest size. Thanks to this, you will easily be able to assess the density.

What To Do About Over-Spamming

If the text on the page does not meet the requirements of the search system, it will be marked. Therefore, you must refine it and ensure it’s ideal. You can try simply replacing words or modifying their endings. But this may only help in instances where the page falls under one filter. If there are multiple filters, you will have to make a significant effort. Let’s enumerate the main ways to rid yourself of spamming.

Using Synonyms

Here you’ll need a good vocabulary resource or specialized websites where you can find synonyms. The words that appear more often in your text need to be taken and replaced with synonyms. The downside consists in the fact that not every word will easily yield a synonym. If “beautiful” can be changed to “attractive,” “pretty,” or “charming,” finding a synonym for “sugar diabetes” is unlikely to happen.

Reducing Text Volume

This method does not always work, but sometimes it bears fruit. You can remove extraneous information, and along with it, spam will also go away. Thus, only the most important information will remain in the text. You can turn this around – add words, which will also diminish the spam. But in this case, the text can end up convoluted and loose.

Increasing Distances Between Keywords

The spam indicator is influenced not only by the number of keywords but also by their density, spread across the text. Make sure there are 400-500 characters between the “keywords”.

Rephrasing the Entire Text

Generally speaking, you need to make a rewrite of your text. However, this doesn’t always yield a quick and quality result, as rephrasing your own thoughts can be challenging. The main thing is to retain all the necessary keywords and the general meaning of the text.

Complete Rewriting of the Material

If you’ve tried everything, but spam still red-flags, attempt to delete entire sections or even the entirety of the text and rewrite them anew. Yes, it may take a lot of time, but ultimately the text will likely turn out perfect. For checking your material, you can use two more resources – Glavred and Turgenev. With their help, you can understand how readable your text is for humans. If everything there is fine, your text can confidently be placed on the site. Search systems will definitely find it acceptable.

Conclusion

It could be said that today the problem of spam has gone into oblivion. And a significant role in this has been played by the filters used by search systems. Thanks to the fact that copywriters have realized that their texts need to be high quality, they have learned to create beneficial material. But if you haven’t yet joined their ranks, hope this article has been useful for you. Learn and strive to become better each day!