Tool · Free web version, paid desktop app

Hemingway Editor

Hemingway App Freemium Beginner

If you cannot yet hear which of your sentences read as translated, this free tool shows you. Paste your draft and it highlights the sentences that are hard to read (yellow and red), the passive voice, and the fancy words that have a plainer alternative, then gives you a readability grade to aim lower on. It will not fix your voice for you, but it flags the exact spots where formal, tangled writing is tripping the reader up.

  • Colour-coded highlights point at your hard-to-read and overly complex sentences so you know precisely what to simplify.
  • It flags passive voice and formal words that have simpler alternatives, the usual tells of copy that reads translated.
  • The free browser version does all of this: aim for a lower reading grade (roughly 6 to 9) for general marketing copy.
Open on hemingwayapp.com ↗

It answers 3 questions

  1. How do I write content for SEO without sounding like a robot stuffing keywords?
  2. I keep getting told my copy sounds like a translation. How do I write English marketing copy that reads natural when English isn't my first language?
  3. What are the most common cold email mistakes that make people delete on sight?

Read with it

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  2. A tactical follow-on covering the channels and motions top B2B startups scale after the first ten. Grounds distribution... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~15 min read How to win your first 10 B2B customers Lenny Rachitsky
  3. When people say your copy reads like a translation, they usually mean it reads like writing, not like a person talking. This... Content Marketing Institute Article · ~10 min read Write Like You Talk: 12 Tips for Conversational Content Darek Black
  4. Video · ~5 min Write like you speak! Dr Clare Lynch (Doris & Bertie Writing School)
  5. This is Google's own standard for what earns rankings, written by the team that runs the ranking systems, so it settles the... Google Search Central Article Creating Helpful, Reliable, People-First Content Google Search Central
  6. Google tells you what to aim for, but Handley teaches you the actual craft of getting there: how to write something a human... Ann Handley Book Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content Ann Handley
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