Readability for B2B SaaS Marketing: Clarity vs Authority
How to use readability scores on B2B SaaS copy: what a grade means, a scored before-and-after, and how to keep product terms without losing the reader.
B2B buyers are often experts, and they are usually short on time. Good SaaS copy respects both facts. It keeps the terms the buyer knows and makes everything around them quick to read.
One caveat first. We have no data showing that a lower grade level raises conversions, and we know of no public study that proves it. The grade targets in this post are our suggestions. Test them on your own pages.
What a grade level means
Microsoft's description of the Flesch-Kincaid test puts it this way: "a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader can understand the document." Grade 12 means a high school senior.
The formula uses two things only: how long your sentences are, and how many syllables your words have. It does not know whether a claim is true, specific or persuasive.
A scored before-and-after
Both versions below were scored on this site's calculator on 9 October 2026. They are sample copy we wrote for this post.
Before
Our enterprise tier accommodates organizations with substantial transaction volumes and multifaceted operational requirements, featuring comprehensive API access, dedicated infrastructure allocation, and granular customization capabilities.
One sentence, 24 words. Grade 31.1.
After
The Enterprise plan handles millions of transactions per month. You get dedicated infrastructure, full API access, and a custom setup just for your needs.
Two sentences, 24 words. Grade 9.2.
The second version keeps every product term a buyer would look for: Enterprise, dedicated infrastructure, API access. It drops the filler around them.
Keep the terms, fix the rest
- Keep product and industry terms. If your buyers search for "single sign-on" or "audit log," use those words.
- Define a term once if some readers may not know it.
- Cut abstract nouns. "Customization capabilities" becomes "a custom setup."
- One idea per sentence. Long feature lists read better as bullets.
- Prefer active voice. It shows who does what. It does not always lower the score, as our post on active and passive voice explains.
Suggested targets by page type
These are starting points, not standards.
| Page | Suggested grade | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Home and landing pages | 7 to 9 | Read fast, often on a phone |
| Feature and pricing pages | 8 to 10 | More detail, still skimmed |
| Case studies | 9 to 11 | Readers choose to spend time here |
| API and developer docs | Do not chase a grade | Exact terms matter more |
For documentation, see our guide to readability for technical docs.
A workflow for a marketing team
- Paste the page copy into the readability checker and note the grade.
- Fix the red sentences first. They are over 25 words.
- Replace long filler words. Our table of shorter substitutes helps.
- Re-score, and use the same formula each time so the numbers compare.
- If you can, run the new copy against the old in an A/B test. That is the only way to learn what it does to conversions on your site.
How we checked
The example was scored on this site's calculator. The Microsoft quote is from its support page, read on 9 October 2026. An earlier version of this post stated conversion effects and industry norms that we could not source. They have been removed.
Frequently asked questions
What grade level should B2B SaaS copy be?
There is no proven best level. We suggest grade 8 to 10 for most marketing pages, because busy readers skim. That is our suggestion, not a measured norm. Test it against your own pages.
Does simpler copy convert better?
We know of no public study that isolates reading grade as the cause of a conversion lift. Clearer copy is easier to read quickly, which may help. Treat it as an idea to test on your own pages.
Will plain language make our product sound less serious?
Not if you keep the terms your buyers use. Plain language means short sentences and common words around those terms. It does not mean removing the product vocabulary an expert expects to see.