Raise Readership by "Dumbing Down"

"More visitors!" you demand. 

Well, before you order your three-million-dollar Super Bowl spot, here's a simpler, cheaper solution.

It won't get you more traffic. 

But it will help you capture 3 out of 10 visitors who probably bounce from your site because they can't understand your words.

Don't Learn the Hard Way

Before I outline the solution, let me tell you how I learned the problem the hard way.

Recently, a usability consultant tested some seemingly clever phrases we had written for a client's revised homepage.

Some participants got them. But those for whom English was a second language did not. 

To them, we could have written Klingon. 

"Trying to be too smart" was the usability report's verdict.

Remember the Eighth Grade

But apparently not so smart at all.

Because we had forgotten that many web users have a low level of literacy.

In the US, the average adult reads at an eighth-grade level.

Nearly half the population has low literacy. 

According to usability guru Jakob Nielsen, 30 percent of web users have low literacy.

And that number will reach 40 percent by 2010. 

Imagine a party where two out of every five people won't understand you unless you talk slowly and use simple words. 

That's where your website increasingly lives. 

Meet Your Neglected Audience

So just how do low-literacy users differ? 

Here are four key ways:

1. They read: Shockingly. If you know anything about web writing (and if not, stop now and download our free web writing e-book), you know that most web readers don't read word-for-word. Rather, they scan text looking for key points. Not so for low-literacy users. They "plow," as Nielsen says, trying to decipher what they're reading.
2. They skip big chunks: When they meet big chunks of text, however, plowers turn into jumpers. They'll skip anything that appears too complicated. In the process, they might miss important information.
3. They really hate scrolling: Most web users hate scrolling. Low-literacy users really hate scrolling. Because when they do, they find it even more difficult to find where they were last reading.
4. They search poorly: For many people, search engines are the savior when seeking information. Low-literacy users, however, have trouble searching because they often misspell queries and have difficulty decoding search results. 

Speak so They Understand

So, now that you understand the problem, what can you do about it? Here are some tips to get you speaking low-literacy users' language:

1. Keep it simple: Write key pages at a sixth-grade reading level, including your home page, index pages and landing pages. Write no others pages above an eighth-grade reading level. Follow guidelines for web writing, keep your sentences short and aim for one idea per paragraph. (This post, by the way, has a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 6.00.)
2. Put important information up top: This reduces the need to scroll.
3. Use common, familiar words: Avoid words with more than three syllables, abbreviations, acronyms, long lists and jargon.
4. Be literal: Stay away from puns and other turns of phrase that require greater literacy. Also avoid idiomatic and colloquial phrases.
5. Build forgiving search engines: This is more of a technical solution, but important nonetheless. Your site's search engine should account for misspellings and present meaningful results.
6. Don't trust, test: Think you've written for a grade-six level? Put your gut on trial. Microsoft Word and Google Docs allow you to calculate Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and Flesch Reading Ease (among other things). You can also use online tools such as Juicy Studio's Readability Test.

Make Things Easier for Everyone

There are many benefits to a more widely readable website.

Capturing three more readers for every 10 who visit your site amounts to a 43 percent increase. Which isn't shabby for the effort required.

And while you might worry that "dumbing down" will turn off higher literacy users, this doesn't appear to be the case. 

Rather, studies show that tailoring pages to low-literacy users improves all users' ability to find correct information faster, and to feel more satisfied with their experience.

Of course, you should always consider your audience. These rules apply most to sites reaching a broad and diverse audience, such as government websites, as well websites delivering critical information, such as health websites.

And I would imagine that they also apply to Super Bowl commercials.

So, how well does your website meet the needs of low-literacy users? Let us know in the comments below.