Average Words Per Sentence reports the mean length, in words, of the sentences RankGear recognizes on a page, so you can see whether your target writes in noticeably shorter or longer sentences than the pages that currently rank. Read it as an observation about sentence structure, not a target to hit — a lower average is not automatically clearer.
| Factor ID | RG-SIZ-002 |
|---|---|
| Family | Size & length |
| Measurement | Average count |
| Measured zone | Cleaned page content |
What it measures
This factor measures the mean length of the sentences RankGear recognizes in a page’s cleaned content. Comparing it against the ranking set reveals whether your target leans on much shorter or much longer sentence structures than the pages it competes with — a difference that can shape how readable the copy feels, even when the underlying facts are the same.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear parses sentence-like text from the cleaned content, then filters out any sentence with fewer than four recognized words. It counts the word tokens in the sentences that remain and divides that total by the number of retained sentences. If no sentence qualifies, the result is 0. Under the sentence tokenizer, hyphenated and apostrophe-containing words stay as single tokens.
average = word tokens in retained sentences ÷ retained sentence count
retained sentence = a recognized sentence with 4 or more words
(if no sentence qualifies, average = 0)How to optimize it
Use sentence length to support clarity rather than to chase a mechanical average. Split sentences that carry several independent ideas, but keep the occasional longer sentence when a relationship genuinely needs explaining. Mixing sentence lengths is what keeps prose readable and natural — so treat this number as an observation to weigh against your audience and the ranking distribution, not a figure to force up or down.
| If the page is… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Well above the ranking pages (long, dense sentences) | Split sentences that bundle several independent ideas; keep the longer ones only where they explain a relationship. |
| Well below the ranking pages (very short, choppy sentences) | Combine closely related short sentences so the prose reads naturally rather than clipped. |
| In line with the ranking pages | No change needed on length alone — judge clarity by reading, not by the average. |
Important considerations
- The average excludes short or unrecognized sentences — anything under four recognized words is left out of the calculation.
- A lower average is not always clearer; very short, choppy sentences can read worse than a well-formed longer one.
- Audience, subject, and page purpose determine the appropriate range — there is no single right number.
- The factor does not measure grammar, logic, or factual quality, only sentence length.
- Compare it alongside Reading Ease, Grade Level, and the competitor distribution rather than in isolation.
- This is a correlation-based prioritization signal that relates to position within a measured result set — it does not, on its own, make a page rank or guarantee a ranking.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.