yoastseo

# Overview of the Readability assessments scoring criteria Readability analysis is a collection of assessments that check how easy to read a text is. Some of the readability assessments are language-independent (e.g. paragraph length, subheading distribution), but many are language-specific (e.g. passive voice, transition words) and are made available for different languages on a case-by-case basis. For more information on each language, you can check the documentation on [which language-specific assessments have been adapted to which languages](https://github.com/Yoast/wordpress-seo/tree/trunk/packages/yoastseo/README.md#readability-analysis). ## How are individual traffic lights assigned? | Individual Score | Rating | Individual penalty points | |------------ |---------------------------------|---------------------| |0 (if it is not explicitly set as a score) | Feedback (gray traffic light) |- | |0-4 | Bad (red traffic light) |3 (partial support: 4) | |5-7 | Ok (orange traffic light) |2 | |8-10 | Good (green traffic light) |0 | ## How is the overall score calculated? | Sum of penalty points | Total score | Divide by 10:| |------------ |------------------ |---------------------| | 6 (partial: 4) |30 |3 | | 4 (partial: 2) |60 |6 | | <4 (partial: < 2) |90 |9 | ## Scoring criteria for the readability assessments ### 1) Subheading distribution **What it does**: Checks whether long texts are divided by subheadings. **When applies**: Always. **Name in code**: SubheadingsDistributionTooLong **Title URL**: [https://yoa.st/34x](https://yoast.com/how-to-use-headings-on-your-site/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=subheading-distributrion-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) **Call to action URL**: [https://yoa.st/34y](https://yoast.com/how-to-use-headings-on-your-site/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=subheading-distributrion-cta&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) | Traffic light | Score | Criterion | Feedback | |-----------------|------------------ |--------------------- |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Red |2 | **Default**: A text with more than 300 words (cornerstone: 250) and no subheading is present. **Japanese**: A text with more than 600 characters (cornerstone: 500) and no subheading is present. | **Subheading distribution**: You are not using any subheadings, although your text is rather long. Try and add some subheadings. | | Red |3 | **Default**: There is subheading(s) in the text and it is followed and preceded (if applicable) by more than 350 words (cornerstone: 300). **Japanese**: There is subheading(s) in the text and it is followed and preceded (if applicable) by more than 700 characters (cornerstone: 600).| **DEFAULT**: **Subheading distribution**: X sections of your text are longer than the recommended number of words (X) and are not separated by any subheadings. Add subheadings to improve readability. <br> **JAPANESE:** **Subheading distribution**: X sections of your text are longer than the recommended number of characters (X) and are not separated by any subheadings. Add subheadings to improve readability. | | Red |3 | **Default**: There is subheading(s) in the text in which the first one is preceded by a text longer than 350 words (cornerstone: 300). And the texts following the subheading(s) is less than 300 words (cornerstone: 250). **Japanese**: There is subheading(s) in the text in which the first one is preceded by a text longer than 700 characters (cornerstone: 600). And the texts following the subheading(s) is less than 600 characters (cornerstone: 500). | **DEFAULT:** **Subheading distribution**: The beginning of your text is longer than X words and is not separated by any subheadings. Add subheadings to improve readability. <br> **JAPANESE**: **Subheading distribution**: The beginning of your text is longer than X characters and is not separated by any subheadings. Add subheadings to improve readability. | | Orange |6 | **Default**: Subheading followed by 300-350 words (cornerstone: 250-300). **Japanese**: Subheading followed by 600-700 characters (cornerstone: 500-600) | **DEFAULT:** **Subheading distribution**: X sections of your text are longer than the recommended number of words (X) and are not separated by any subheadings. Add subheadings to improve readability. <br> **JAPANESE:** **Subheading distribution**: X sections of your text are longer than the recommended number of characters (X) and are not separated by any subheadings. Add subheadings to improve readability. | | Orange |6 | **Default**: There is subheading(s) in the text in which the first one is preceded by a text between 300-350 words (cornerstone: 250-300). And the texts following the subheading(s) is less than 300 words (cornerstone: 250). **Japanese**: There is subheading(s) in the text in which the first one is preceded by a text between 600-700 characters (cornerstone: 500-600). And the texts following the subheading(s) is less than 600 characters (cornerstone: 500). | **DEFAULT:** **Subheading distribution**: The beginning of your text is longer than X words and is not separated by any subheadings. Add subheadings to improve readability. <br> **JAPANESE:** **Subheading distribution**: The beginning of your text is longer than X characters and is not separated by any subheadings. Add subheadings to improve readability. | | Green |9 | **Default**: A text with 300 or less words and no subheading is present. **Japanese**: A text with 600 or less characters and no subheading is present. | **Subheading distribution**: You are not using any subheadings, but your text is short enough and probably doesn't need them. | | Green |9 | **Default**: There is subheading(s) in the text and it is followed and preceded (if applicable) by less than 300 words (cornerstone: 250). **Japanese**: There is subheading(s) in the text and it is followed and preceded (if applicable) by less than 600 characters (cornerstone: 500). | **Subheading distribution**: Great job! | ### 2) Paragraph length **What it does**: Checks whether the paragraphs exceed the recommended maximum length. **When applies**: Always. **Name in code**: ParagraphTooLongAssessment **Title URL**: [https://yoa.st/35d](https://yoast.com/paragraph-length-check/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=paragraph-length-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) **Call to action URL**: [https://yoa.st/35e](https://yoast.com/paragraph-length-check/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=paragraph-length-cta&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) | Traffic light | Score | Criterion | Feedback | |------------|------------------ |----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Red |3 | > 200 words (Japanese: 400 characters) | **Paragraph length**: X of the paragraphs contain(s) more than the recommended maximum number of words/characters (X). **Shorten your paragraphs!** | | Orange |6 | Between 150 and 200 words (Japanese: 300-400 characters) | **Paragraph length**: X of the paragraphs contain(s) more than the recommended maximum number of words/characters (X). **Shorten your paragraphs!** | | Green |9 | ≤ 150 words (Japanese: 300 characters) | **Paragraph length**: There are no paragraphs that are too long. Great job! | ### 3) Sentence length **What it does**: Checks whether the sentences exceed the recommended maximum length (default: 20 words, CA, ES, FA, IT, PT: 25 words, HE, RU, TR: 15 words, JA: 40 characters). **When applies**: Always. **Name in code**: SentenceLengthInTextAssessment **Title URL**: [https://yoa.st/34v](https://yoast.com/the-sentence-length-check/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=sentence-length-in-text-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) **Call to action URL**: [https://yoa.st/34w](https://yoast.com/the-sentence-length-check/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=sentence-length-in-text-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) |Traffic light | Score | Criterion | Feedback | |------------------ |------------------ |--------------------- |-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Red | 3 |> 30% (cornerstone: 25%) | **Sentence length**: X of the sentences contain more than X words/characters, which is more than the recommended maximum of X%. **Try to shorten the sentences**. | |Orange | 6 |Between 25 and 30% (cornerstone: 20-25%, Turkish: 20-25%, Polish: 15-20%) | **Sentence length**: X of the sentences contain more than X words/characters, which is more than the recommended maximum of X%. **Try to shorten the sentences**. | |Green | 9 |≤ 25% (cornerstone: ≤ 20%; Polish: ≤ 15%) | **Sentence length**: great! | ### 4) Consecutive sentences **What it does**: Checks whether there are more than 3 sentences in a row that start with the same word. **When applies**: When the researcher has a research (the assessment is supported in the researcher's language). **Name in code**: SentenceBeginningsAssessment **Title URL**: [https://yoa.st/35f](https://yoast.com/consecutive-sentences-check-yoast-seo/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=sentence-beginnings-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) **Call to action URL**: [https://yoa.st/35g](https://yoast.com/consecutive-sentences-check-yoast-seo/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=sentence-beginnings-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) | Traffic light | Score | Criterion | Feedback | |---------------|-------|------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Red | 3 | 3 or more consecutive sentences start with the same word | **Consecutive sentences**: The text contains X consecutive sentences starting with the same word. **Try to mix things up!** | | Green | 9 | Less than 3 consecutive sentences start with the same word | **Consecutive sentences**: There are no repetitive sentence beginnings. That's great! | ### 5) Passive voice **What it does**: Checks whether the number of sentences containing passive voice exceeds the recommended maximum amount. **When applies**: When the researcher has a research (the assessment is supported in the researcher's language). **Name in code**: PassiveVoiceAssessment **Title URL**: [https://yoa.st/34t](https://yoast.com/the-passive-voice-what-is-it-and-how-to-avoid-it/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=passive-voice-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) **Call to action URL**: [https://yoa.st/34u](https://yoast.com/the-passive-voice-what-is-it-and-how-to-avoid-it/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=passive-voice-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) | Traffic light | Score | Criterion | Feedback | |---------------|-------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Red | 3 | > 15% of sentences | **Passive voice**: X of the sentences contain passive voice, which is more than the recommended maximum of X. **Try to use their active counterparts**. | | Orange | 6 | Between 10 and 15% of sentences | **Passive voice**: X of the sentences contain passive voice, which is more than the recommended maximum of X. **Try to use their active counterparts**. | | Green | 9 | ≤ 10% of sentences | **Passive voice**: You are not using too much passive voice. That's great! | ### 6) Transition words **What it does**: Checks whether there are enough sentences containing transition words. **When applies**: When the researcher has a research (the assessment is supported in the researcher's language). **Name in code**: TransitionWordsAssessment **Title URL**: [https://yoa.st/34z](https://yoast.com/transition-words-why-and-how-to-use-them/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=transition-words-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) **Call to action URL**: [https://yoa.st/35a](https://yoast.com/transition-words-why-and-how-to-use-them/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=transition-words-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) |Traffic light |Score | Criterion | Feedback| |-------|------ |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------- | |Red |3| No transition words found in a long text (more than 200 words or 400 characters in Japanese) |**Transition words**: None of the sentences contain transition words. **Use some**.| |Red |3| < 20% of sentences in a long text (more than 200 words or 400 characters in Japanese) |**Transition words**: Only X of the sentences contain them. This is not enough. **Use more transition words**.| |Orange |6| Between 20 and 30% of sentences in a long text (more than 200 words or 400 characters in Japanese) |**Transition words**: Only X of the sentences contain them. This is not enough. **Use more transition words**.| |Green |9| ≥ 30% of sentences in a long text (more than 200 words or 400 characters in Japanese) |**Transition words**: Well done!| |Green |9| At least one sentence with transition words in a short text (less than 200 words or 400 characters in Japanese) |**Transition words**: Well done!| |Green |9| No transition words found in a short text (less than 200 words or 400 characters in Japanese) |**Transition words**: You are not using any transition words, but your text is short enough and probably doesn't need them.| ### 7) Text presence **What it does**: Checks whether there is enough text in the copy **Name in code**: TextPresenceAssessment **Title URL**: [https://yoa.st/35h](https://yoast.com/blog-post-word-count-seo/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=text-presence-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) **Call to action URL**: [https://yoa.st/35i](https://yoast.com/blog-post-word-count-seo/#utm_source=yoast-seo&utm_medium=software&utm_term=text-presence-name&utm_content=content-analysis) (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) |Traffic light |Score| Criterion| Feedback| |-------|------ |----- |------- | |Red |3 |< 50 characters |**Not enough content**: **please add some content to enable a good analysis**.| ### 8) Word complexity (only in Premium) **What it does**: Checks whether the text contains complex words. Word forms from the keyphrase are excluded. **When applies**: When the researcher has a research (the assessment is supported in the researcher's language). **Name in code**: WordComplexityAssessment **Title URL**: https://yoa.st/4ls (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) **Call to action URL**: https://yoa.st/4lt (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) | Traffic light | Score | Criterion | Feedback | |---------------------------|--------------------|----------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Orange (cornerstone: red) | 6 (cornerstone: 3) | If the complex words are more than 10% in the text | **Word complexity**: X% of the words in your text are considered complex. **Try to use shorter and more familiar words to improve readability**. | | Green | 9 | If the complex words are less than 10% in the text | **Word complexity**: You are not using too many complex words, which makes your text easy to read. Good job! | ### 9) Text alignment (only in Premium) **What it does**: Checks whether there is an over-use of center-alignment in the text. By default, we check for the `.has-text-align-center` class, but this can be changed in the researcher configuration (`centerClasses`). **When applies**: When the (sanitized) text has more than 50 characters and at least one paragraph or heading with center-alignment. **Name in code**: TextAlignmentAssessment **Title URL**: https://yoa.st/assessment-alignment (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) **Call to action URL**: https://yoa.st/assessment-alignment-cta (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings) | Traffic light | Score | Criterion | Feedback | |---------------|-------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Red | 2 | There is one center-aligned element that is over 50 characters long | LTR: **Alignment**: There is a long section of center-aligned text. **We recommend making it left-aligned**. | | | | | RTL: **Alignment**: There is a long section of center-aligned text. **We recommend making it right-aligned**. | | Red | 2 | There are multiple center-aligned elements that are over 50 characters long | LTR: **Alignment**: There are X long sections of center-aligned text. **We recommend making them left-aligned**. | | | | | RTL: **Alignment**: There are X long sections of center-aligned text. **We recommend making them right-aligned**. | **Notes**: * LTR: The feedback shown for languages written from left to right. * RTL: The feedback shown for languages written from right to left.