Yoast Readability VS SEO score

[HTNick]

Hello, Rookie Webmaster with another question for you...

So, I moved my site over to Word Press and now I'm using Yoast and trying to ensure that at least my SEO score (via the plugin) is 'Good' and has the green check mark. However the 'Readability' score is not so great. Does anyone have any insights as to whether one is more important than the other? Can I succeed with good 'SEO' score and poor 'Readability' or do I need both?

Thanks as always,
NP

[Christiaan]

Hello Nick,

They are both important. Readability checks how good the text is written, you want your users to have a good text to read. SEO score focuses more on aspects the crawlers check.
If you want to rank, SEO is most important. If you want to keep users on your site, readability is important.

[Malikbhai]

How careful is gpwa.org when it comes to SEO, other than seo-url friendly urls, there is very little the ownership of this website can do to improve on page seo, yet, they get a lot of relatable traffic.

My google traffic increased only when I stopped giving an eff about it. It's kind of like the gambling industry. The people who make the money are on the other side of the fence i.e., selling betting offers, not the punters.

But like most of the punters, the seo-oriented guys will never understand this and hence the roundabout continues.

Just be useful. Forget about search engines.

[luckyga]

Although popular, personally I think Yoast is over rated, full of code bloat and non relevant functionality, it also loads up twice, once front end and once server side which is a resource drain and could potentially effect site speed. Just make sure your content is well written, reads naturally and aren't full of keyword stuffing and you'll be fine.

[HTNick]

I appreciate your comments, I'm trying to be useful but also just make sure my fundamental SEO game is tight. Standing out is tough as everyone seems to try and copy the big boys. Long road ahead indeed but I have some ideas about usefulness and I feel like I am building a powerful brand. Look foward to showing my site on the first timers forum once completed. Bon weekend!

[HTNick]

Ah, I didn't realize Yoast was a resource drain...I think my writing is pretty good. But the audience will decide in the end I suppose. Thanks!

[mickyfu]

If you follow all Yoasts guidelines, you will just end up with an over optimised site. It does not look natural at all. I wouldn't really care what yoast says is good or not.

[Francesca31]

I do use Yoast but not as bible standard. I value their urls, focused keywords score, nothing else.