So Ron Denholm showed us the costs of writing inefficiently, hopefully inspiring people to write succinct documents with simpler words.

However, reading costs aren’t the only reason to write efficiently…

1. a shorter document is visually more appealing so is more likely to have people start reading it
2. It saves people reading time and therefore money – great if the people are in your pay and good service for your customers
3. if it is easier and quicker to read, more people will actually read it so your message will reach a greater audience
4. quicker and easier to read also increases the likelihood that your readers will absorb the information and/or be persuaded by your argument
5. the proportion of relevant keywords will be higher in a reduced word count so it’s probably going to do better for your search engine results
6. it is much easier to proof read fewer words and shorter words so it will also save you time, especially for documents that end up with multiple rounds of feedback and editing
7. shorter documents require less paper which can save money and the planet! It also means that designers have more space to add images or adjust the layout to best suit the document