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Content quality checker: find what makes text read badly
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The guide
Why I built a content checker
Every page on this site goes through the same edit before it goes live. I read it for things that make it sound like it was written for a search engine instead of a person: the main keyword repeated in every paragraph, phrases like "in today's digital landscape" that say nothing, sentences that run on for forty words, sections with no headings. Then I cut or rewrite them. This tool is that checklist, written down.
The reason is practical. Google's core updates keep rewarding content that is written by people who know the subject and penalising content made at scale to rank. I have worked through many of those updates on client sites, and the pages that hold up are the ones that read like an expert talking to a customer. The pages that fall are often the ones stuffed with the keyword and padded with filler. I go into the recovery side in my core update and E-E-A-T guide.
The checker can't tell you whether your facts are right or your advice is good. It can catch the habits that make good content look generic, so you can spend your editing time on the parts that need a human.
What it checks
Keyword use and stuffing
Add a target keyword and I count every use, including plurals and hyphenated forms, and show the share of the text it takes up. I also check it appears early and in at least one heading. Over about 4% is flagged as likely stuffing.
Repeated phrases
Three- to five-word phrases that come up again and again. Some repetition is normal; a phrase used ten times in 600 words usually means a template or padding.
Stock and AI-style phrases
A list of phrases like "delve into", "unlock the potential", "plays a crucial role" and "in the realm of". The rare, tell-tale ones count more than ordinary business words such as "seamless".
Readability
Flesch reading ease, an approximate US grade level, average sentence length and every sentence over 30 words, longest first.
Passive voice
Sentences built like "the report was sent". I skip common adjectives that look passive, such as "we are based in" or "fully licensed", to keep false alarms down.
Structure and length
Thin content, paragraphs over 150 words, long stretches with no subheading, duplicate headings, and where I'd add headings if the text has none.
How I tested it
A checker that flags everything is useless, so I tuned this one against two kinds of text. The first was writing I trust: the articles on this site, such as my real estate attorney Google Ads case study, and a long, formal encyclopedia article on SEO. The articles came back with no stock phrases and no stuffing, and the encyclopedia text only got low-priority notes about long sentences and a long section, which is fair for that style.
The second kind was text built to fail: a generic "why SEO matters" article full of the phrases above, and a plumber page with "best plumber in Dallas" repeated eleven times in about a hundred words. Both were flagged at the top of the list, with the exact phrases and sentences shown. That balance, quiet on good writing and loud on bad, is what I aimed for.
How to act on the results
“Fix this” items
Stuffing, a pile-up of stock phrases or very thin content. These are the ones that can cost you trust with readers and, in bad cases, put the page on the wrong side of Google's spam policies. Rewrite before you publish.
“Worth fixing” items
Heavy keyword use, hard-to-read text, a run of long sentences, no headings. Fix them when the page matters, such as a main service page.
“Minor” items
A couple of stock phrases, some passive sentences, one long paragraph. Normal in good writing. Change them if a better word comes to mind.
Edit in the box and the review updates as you type, so you can watch an item clear. When the text is ready, check the page itself with the free SEO audit tool and see how its title and description look in results with the SERP preview.
A before-and-after edit
Here is the kind of paragraph the checker flags at the top of the list. It came from the stuffed test page, with the keyword "best plumber in Dallas":
"Looking for the best plumber in Dallas? Our best plumber in Dallas team is the best plumber in Dallas TX for all plumbing needs. When you need a plumber in Dallas, call the best plumber in Dallas today."
Three problems show up at once: the keyword makes up a large share of the words, the same four-word phrase repeats, and the page is far too short to answer anything. Rewriting it means saying what a customer wants to know:
"Burst pipe or no hot water? We cover Dallas and the nearby suburbs, answer the phone around the clock and give you the price before we start. All our plumbers are licensed."
The keyword is gone, and the page is more relevant, not less. "Dallas" and "plumbers" are still there, used the way a person would use them. Google understands that a page about burst pipes and licensed plumbers in Dallas is a plumber page. It doesn't need the exact phrase in every sentence. Only write facts like the hours and the licence if they're true for the business.
What the readability score means
Flesch reading ease is worked out from two things: the average number of words per sentence and the average number of syllables per word. Scores run from about 0 to 100, and higher is easier. Most plain-English writing for customers lands between 60 and 70. Legal and medical pages often score lower, and that's acceptable when the reader expects it.
I count syllables with a rule-based method, not a dictionary, so treat the score as a guide that can be a few points off. The grade level comes from the same counts. A score that moves 20 points after an edit means something; a difference of 3 doesn't.
The quickest way to raise it is not simpler words but shorter sentences. Split anything over 30 words, which the checker lists longest first, and the score usually moves more than any other change.
Writing habits that make content look generic
- Opening with a sentence about how fast the world or the industry is changing.
- Using the exact keyword where a person would say "it", "this" or "we".
- Promising a "comprehensive guide" and then covering each point in two sentences.
- Claims with no proof: "industry-leading", "unparalleled", "trusted by thousands".
- The same page copied across cities with only the place name changed.
- Ending with "In conclusion" and repeating the introduction.
What makes content hold up through updates
I write and edit to a simple rule: every paragraph should contain something a reader couldn't have guessed. A number from a real account, a step in the order I actually do it, a mistake I have seen, a question customers ask. On my own pages that means using only facts I can back up, like the results in the case studies, and leaving out anything I can't.
For local businesses this matters even more. The med spa, limo and law firm pages I work on win when they answer what a nervous first-time customer wants to know, in plain language, and lose when they read like a template. If you want help with that, see how I approach high-ticket local services, or ask me to look at your pages.
FAQ
Content checker questions
Is this an AI content detector?
No. It doesn’t guess who or what wrote the text, and no tool can do that reliably. It flags stock phrases that readers now associate with mass-produced content, so you can replace them with something specific. Human writers use them too.
What keyword density is good for SEO?
There isn’t a target, and Google has never published one. Use the phrase where it reads naturally. The checker warns above about 2.5% and calls it likely stuffing above about 4%, which is my rule of thumb for when text starts to read badly, not a Google number.
Does Google penalise AI-written content?
Google says it rewards helpful content however it was produced, and its spam policies target scaled content abuse: many pages made mainly to rank, by any method, that add little value. The risk isn’t the tool you write with. It’s publishing text that says nothing a reader can’t find elsewhere.
Is my text sent to your server?
Pasted text never leaves your browser; the analysis runs on your device. If you use “Fetch a URL”, my server downloads that page once to extract its text and sends it back to you. Nothing is stored.
What is a good Flesch reading ease score?
For pages written for the general public, 60 or above reads comfortably. Legal, medical and B2B pages often sit between 30 and 50, which is fine if your readers expect it. Shorter sentences raise the score more than simpler words do.
How many words should a page have?
As many as it takes to answer the question well. The checker warns under 300 words and flags under 150, because pages that short rarely cover a topic fully, but Google has said word count itself isn’t a ranking factor.
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