Readwell Commons · Adult literacy charity · Ottawa
Plain words, high rankings: an Ottawa literacy charity's bilingual content programme
+218%
organic programme enquiries, over 12 months, in two languages.
Education & Nonprofit · North America · Content & AI search · scroll and the pages rise
The challenge
The words people searched were simple. The site was not.
Adults looking for reading help used simple phrases in English and French, and nothing in search spoke their language plainly.
Many adults in Ottawa find everyday reading hard, and many of them speak French at home. They search the way they talk: “help to read”, “cours de lecture”, “am I too old?”. Readwell had free classes for all of them, hidden behind funder language and a French PDF that search engines could not open.
What the audit found
- 01 · ContentGrade 14
Pages written for funders, not learners
The programme pages read at a Grade 14 level, full of words like “andragogical” and “essential skills framework”. Adults searching for help read, on average, at Grade 5 to 6.
- 02 · Language0 FR pages
French was a PDF, not a page
Every French programme lived in one scanned brochure. Google could not read it, and nobody searching “cours de lecture pour adultes” could find it.
- 03 · Language0 hreflang
No hreflang, no language switch
English and French versions were not linked to each other, so the wrong language often ranked. The language switch sent people to the home page.
- 04 · Content31 unanswered
Nobody answered the real questions
People asked “Is it free?”, “Will anyone know?” and “Am I too old to learn?”. No page answered them in plain words, so AI answers quoted other sites.
- 05 · Technical6.8 s LCP
Slow, cramped pages on phones
Most learners search on older phones. Pages took 6.8 s to load, text was 13 px, and the sign-up form had 19 fields.
- 06 · Local1 of 3
Three sites, one listing
Classes ran at three library branches, but there was one business profile with an old address. Map searches for “near me” sent people to closed rooms.
The strategy
Write it the way people say it — in both languages.
The programme ran on our Content Engine plan: a monthly rhythm of research, plain writing, testing with learners and publishing. Four tactics, each one simple on purpose.
Plain-language content
Every page rewritten to Grade 6, tested with real learners before it went live.
- Short sentences, one idea each
- Words people search, not sector words
- Readable type: 18 px, wide spacing
Bilingual pages
French written first-hand by Franco-Ontarian tutors — not machine-translated from English.
- Paired EN/FR URLs with hreflang
- A language switch that keeps your page
- French keyword research of its own
AI Overviews
Clear, quotable answers to the 31 questions learners were too shy to ask anyone.
- Answer first, in one sentence
- FAQ and Course schema on every page
- Names, places and costs stated plainly
Topic clusters
Four hubs — reading, writing, numbers, everyday digital — each with 15 to 25 linked pages.
- Hub page links every child page
- Children link back and across
- One branch page per library location
Month by month
12 months, one page at a time.
1Month · Listen
Interviews with 24 learners; search-language audit in EN and FR.
- Pages
- 4
- FR top 10
- 0
- Enquiries
- 23
2Month · Listen
Readability baseline; hreflang map; three branch profiles claimed.
- Pages
- 10
- FR top 10
- 2
- Enquiries
- 25
3Month · Build
New page template: 18 px type, 9-field sign-up, LCP down to 1.9 s.
- Pages
- 18
- FR top 10
- 6
- Enquiries
- 28
4Month · Build
Reading hub live in both languages; first 18 plain pages.
- Pages
- 26
- FR top 10
- 11
- Enquiries
- 32
5Month · Build
French brochure retired; 26 pages, each with its own URL.
- Pages
- 34
- FR top 10
- 19
- Enquiries
- 37
6Month · Grow
Writing hub; FAQ schema on 31 learner questions.
- Pages
- 42
- FR top 10
- 28
- Enquiries
- 42
7Month · Grow
Numbers hub; first AI Overview citations in English.
- Pages
- 50
- FR top 10
- 37
- Enquiries
- 47
8Month · Grow
Branch pages for each library; local listings refreshed.
- Pages
- 58
- FR top 10
- 46
- Enquiries
- 53
9Month · Grow
Everyday-digital hub; French AI Overview citations begin.
- Pages
- 66
- FR top 10
- 55
- Enquiries
- 58
10Month · Refine
Learner testing round two; 12 pages simplified again.
- Pages
- 74
- FR top 10
- 63
- Enquiries
- 63
11Month · Refine
Internal links tuned from search data; tutor sign-up pages.
- Pages
- 80
- FR top 10
- 69
- Enquiries
- 67
12Month · Refine
86 pages live; handover of the plain-language style guide.
- Pages
- 86
- FR top 10
- 74
- Enquiries
- 70
The results
Pull a tab. See what changed.
Organic programme enquiries went from 22 to 70 a month — +218% organic programme enquiries. Every figure below is behind a paper tab; the numbers are always readable by screen readers.
Plain-language pages
86
Each written to a Grade 6 reading level and tested with learners — up from 0 at the start.
French keywords top 10
0 → 74
French searches in the top 10, from none at all. 28 of them by month 6.
Learner sign-ups
+63%
41 → 67 learners joining a class each month, with a 9-field form instead of 19.
Modelled scenario for a fictional business — not a client result. Rankings and traffic are never guaranteed; see our Terms.
Enquiries, month by month
The same search, then and now
Aperçu IA · cite Readwell
Readwell Commons offre des cours de lecture gratuits pour adultes, en français, dans trois bibliothèques d’Ottawa.
- 1
readwell.example/fr/lecture
Cours de lecture gratuits pour adultes à Ottawa
Cours gratuits et discrets dans 3 bibliothèques. Aucun test. Commencez quand vous voulez.
- 2
readwell.example/fr/lecture/commencer
Apprendre à lire à l’âge adulte : par où commencer ?
Une tutrice vous aide, à votre rythme, en français.
Ranking table
| Search | Lang | Monthly | Before | After |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| help learning to read adults ottawa | EN | 320 | 38 | 1 |
| cours de lecture pour adultes ottawa | FR | 210 | — | 1 |
| free reading classes near me | EN | 880 | 61 | 3 |
| apprendre à lire adulte gratuit | FR | 390 | — | 2 |
| am i too old to learn to read | EN | 170 | — | 1 |
| alphabétisation ottawa | FR | 260 | — | 2 |
| adult literacy program ottawa | EN | 480 | 14 | 2 |
| aide pour écrire une lettre | FR | 140 | — | 4 |
| how to spell better as an adult | EN | 590 | — | 5 |
| cours de maths pour adultes | FR | 170 | — | 6 |
“—” means not in the top 100. Modelled Ottawa positions, month 12.
The end · or the start
Get a plan like this
Plain words, both languages, answers people can find. Content Engine builds it one tested page at a time.