How it reads

Nine written rules. No guessing machine.

Countertalk does not use AI. Each check below is a rule you can read, with the points it gives and where the rule comes from. Together they make the Counter score: 80 and up talks with visitors, 60 to 79 is mostly friendly, 40 to 59 talks at visitors in places, under 40 is hard to listen to.

20 points

Reading grade

The Flesch-Kincaid grade level: 0.39 × (words per sentence) + 11.8 × (syllables per word) − 15.59. Syllables are counted by vowel groups, the usual shortcut, so a word or two may be off by one.

Points. Grade 8 or lower scores 20; up to 10 scores 14; up to 12 scores 8; above 12 scores 3. Under 30 words there is no grade.

Source. Kincaid, Fishburne, Rogers and Chissom (1975), Derivation of new readability formulas for Navy enlisted personnel, Naval Technical Training Command, Research Branch Report 8-75.

2¶

10 points

Long sentences

A sentence ends at . ! ? or … followed by a capital letter or number; a dot after a common abbreviation (Mr., St., Inc., e.g.) does not end one. Each line of the page is read on its own, so headings count as short sentences.

Points. No sentence over 25 words scores 10; up to 1 in 10 scores 7; up to 1 in 4 scores 4; more scores 1.

Source. GOV.UK content design guidance suggests checking any sentence over 25 words; the Plain English Campaign suggests an average of 15 to 20 words.

15 points

You and us

Counts “you, your, yours, you’re” against “we, our, us, I, my, me” (US in capitals is not counted). Each “we” word is marked so you can see where the page talks about itself.

Points. At least half “you” scores 15; a third scores 10; a fifth scores 5; less scores 2. A page with neither scores 8.

Source. The US Federal Plain Language Guidelines (2011) advise using “you” and other pronouns to speak directly to readers.

15 points

Jargon

About 150 buzzwords and stiff words (“utilize”, “leverage”, “solutions”, “best-in-class”), each with a plain swap or a note on what to say instead. A Notebook’s house words are checked the same way.

Points. None scores 15; up to 1 per 100 words scores 11; up to 2.5 scores 6; more scores 2.

Source. The Federal Plain Language Guidelines’ advice to use simple words and phrases, and its list of words to replace (“utilize” with “use”, “commence” with “start”). The buzzword list is Countertalk’s own.

10 points

Passive voice

A form of “be” followed by a past participle (“are prepared”, “was given”). Common adjectives such as “located”, “licensed” and “insured” are skipped, but a pattern match will still catch the odd adjective.

Points. Passive in up to 1 sentence in 20 scores 10; up to 12% scores 7; up to 25% scores 4; more scores 1.

Source. The Federal Plain Language Guidelines advise using active voice.

10 points

Filler and hedges

Words that pad (“very”, “really”, “basically”), wordy phrases with a short swap (“in order to” → “to”) and promises about effort instead of results (“we strive to”).

Points. None scores 10; up to 1 per 100 words scores 8; up to 2.5 scores 5; more scores 2.

Source. The Federal Plain Language Guidelines advise omitting excess words.

5 points

Link and button words

From an address, every link and button label in the page’s main content is read (menus and footers are skipped). From pasted text, phrases like “click here” and lines that are only “Learn more” or “Submit” are found.

Points. None scores 5; one scores 3; more score 1.

Source. W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2, Success Criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context).

10 points

First-screen answers

In the first 120 words: a price (a $ amount, “free”, “quote”, “per hour”), a way to reach you (a phone number, an email address, “call”, “contact”, “visit us”, “our hours” or “Hours:”) and a next step (an action word such as call, book, order, visit, get, start).

Points. About 3.3 points for each one found. A yes means the words are there, not that they are clear.

Source. Countertalk’s own rule of thumb: these are the three questions a visitor to a small business usually has first.

5 points

Shouting and walls

Three or more capitalised words in a row, any capitalised word of 8 letters or more, “!!”, more than three exclamation marks, and paragraphs (lines) over 80 words.

Points. No issue scores 5; one kind scores 3; two score 1; three score 0.

Source. Countertalk’s own rule of thumb.

What it cannot tell you

Whether your facts are right, whether your prices are good, or whether a visitor will buy. It reads words, not people. Use it to find the sentences worth a second look, then read the page aloud.