Website brief builder
Answer a few questions and get a clear, copyable brief to send to any web designer.
Open →Free tool
Would a customer finish reading your page?
Most visitors skim. Paste your homepage, a service page or your About section and see how easy it is to read, which sentences run on, and which stock phrases make you sound like everyone else.
Free tool
Paste it in, see what to fix
How it works
How the checker scores your words
Reading ease
The Flesch reading-ease formula scores text from 0 to 100 using two things: how long your sentences are and how many syllables your words have. 60–70 is plain English; above 70 is easy for most people.
Reading age
The Flesch–Kincaid grade level is a US school grade. Adding five gives a rough UK reading age. The lower it is, the more people can read your page quickly on a phone.
Long sentences
Any sentence over 25 words is marked. Long sentences are the quickest thing to fix: split them in two, or cut the part that repeats what the reader already knows.
Passive phrases and stock phrases
“Has been designed” hides who did it; “we designed” is clearer. Stock phrases such as “bespoke solutions” and “passionate about” appear on thousands of sites, so they tell the reader nothing about you.
You versus we
Copy that says “you” more than “we” is about the customer’s problem rather than your business. It is a simple count, but it is one of the fastest ways to spot a page written from the wrong side of the counter.
A guide, not a grade. Readability formulas count syllables and sentence lengths; they cannot tell whether your words are true, specific or persuasive. Use the score to find the hard parts, then read the page aloud. If you would not say it to a customer on the phone, rewrite it.
Questions
Common questions
What is a good readability score for a website?
A Flesch reading-ease score of 60 or above is generally treated as plain English, and 70 or more is easy for most adults. For a small business website read on phones, aim for the higher end, with short sentences and everyday words.
What reading age should I write my website for?
GOV.UK’s guidance recommends writing so that people with a reading age of around 9 can understand it, because clear writing is faster for everyone, including experts. It does not mean writing like a children’s book: it means short sentences, common words and one idea at a time.
Why are words like “solutions” and “bespoke” flagged?
They are not wrong, but they appear on so many business websites that readers skip over them. Saying exactly what you do, for example “boiler repairs” rather than “heating solutions”, is clearer and helps Google understand the page too.
Is passive voice always bad?
No. Sometimes it is the natural way to say something, such as “your data is stored securely”. The checker lists likely passive phrases so you can decide. Active sentences are usually shorter and make it clear who does what, which builds trust.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. The checker runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you paste is uploaded, stored or seen by us, so you can check drafts, unpublished pages and competitors’ copy freely.
Want your website written for you?
Every Nerdsharks website comes with the words written for you, in plain English your customers will actually read. Tell us what your business does and we will reply the same working day.