Write at the Level People Actually Read (Flesch-Kincaid)

Why this matters

Reading level is not about dumbing down — it is about removing friction between your idea and your reader's comprehension. The average American reads at a 7th–8th grade level, and even educated readers process simpler prose faster, which means lower reading level directly correlates with higher conversion.

Try it yourself

1. Paste your homepage hero copy into the Hemingway App and record the current grade level — then identify which sentences are flagged as 'hard to read' or 'very hard to read.'
2. Break every sentence flagged as 'hard to read' into two shorter sentences and recalculate the grade level.
3. Find one technical term on your page and rewrite the sentence around it using a plain-language description of what that term does for the user.

References

• Flesch, R. — A New Readability Yardstick (Journal of Applied Psychology)