If you’ve ever hit “publish” on a doc and gotten a feedback like “this is great but hard to follow,” you know the frustration. For us at [our pub services team], we work with all kinds of clients—from small nonprofits to mid-sized brands—and readability is hands down the most overlooked (but most impactful) part of a publication that actually makes people finish it. I’ve sat through so many client calls where they’ve nailed their content, their design, their distribution, but their publication still flops because no one can get through the first paragraph. Today I’m breaking down the small, actionable tweaks that’ll make your publication stick, and how a good pub partner can help you pull it off without the headache. Publications
First off, let’s get real: readability isn’t about dumbing down your content. It’s about meeting your audience where they are. I once worked with a B2B tech client who kept their docs full of jargon that even their own sales team had to look up. We rewrote key lines to use plain language—like swapping “utilize synergistic workflows” for “use tools that work better together”—and their engagement jumped 38% in 6 weeks. No one said you can’t have a unique voice, but overly dense, untranslated lingo is just a wall between your content and the person reading it. Pro tip: do a quick read-through and highlight every word you’d have to explain to a friend. If more than 5% of your text is marked, you’ve got a fix to make.
Next, break up the blocks. No one likes staring at a wall of text—even if it’s their own, I’ve skipped paragraphs just because I don’t feel like scrolling. The magic number here is short chunks: no more than 3 lines per paragraph for web publications, and 5 for print. Add subheadings every 200-300 words (that’s about 1-2 short paragraphs) so people can scan. I always tell clients to think of subheadings like signposts at a gas station—you don’t read every sign, but you know where you’re headed. We once had a healthcare client whose annual report had 12 pages packed into 2 big paragraphs. We split it into sections like “2023 Outcomes,” “What’s Next for Patients,” and “Budget Breakdown,” and within a month, page views on their report went up 52%. Even small publications—think newsletters or brochures—benefit from this. A single paragraph with no breaks just feels heavy, and heavy content makes people bounce.
Fonts and spacing matter more than you think, especially for print. I’ve seen clients use fancy “decorative” fonts for their headers, then pair it with a tiny 8pt serif font for body text, and wonder why people complained their publications were hard to read. Here’s the rule of thumb: stick to fonts with clear letterforms. Serif fonts (like Times New Roman, Garamond) work great for print—they’ve got little lines on letters that help the eye track along. Sans-serif (Arial, Roboto) is perfect for digital, since it’s cleaner on screens. Avoid anything with curlicues or slanted letters for body text—save those for your logo or a special pull quote. Also, font size: print should be at least 10pt, digital at least 16pt for body text. Line spacing is another big one—set it to 1.15 for web, 1.25 for print. Tight spacing makes words run together, and you don’t want your readers mixing up “rate” and “date.” We recently helped a small retail brand redo their product catalog, and they switched from a 9.5pt font to 10.5pt with 1.2 spacing—they got way fewer emails asking “what size is this?” because people could actually read the product descriptions.
Another win: use active voice, not passive. Passive voice is the one where the subject gets the action—like “The report was written by our team” instead of “Our team wrote the report.” It makes sentences longer and less direct. Let’s test it: which is easier to follow? “New customer retention strategies were implemented by the marketing department in Q2” vs. “The marketing department rolled out new retention strategies in Q2.” See the difference? The second one is shorter, more punchy, and you know exactly who did what. I catch myself slipping into passive all the time—especially in business writing—and I have to do a quick pass through my text to swap as much as possible. It’s a tiny tweak, but it makes your content feel less distant and more engaging.
Visuals are non-negotiable for readability too. A publication with only text is like a movie with no sound—you might stick with it, but it’s way less fun. But don’t just add random stock photos. Every visual should have a purpose: a graph to show numbers, a screenshot to demonstrate a tool, a photo that ties to your story. And make sure visuals are high-res—nothing looks cheaper than a blurry graph or a pixelated photo on a print or digital publication. I’ve had clients send us a photo they took on their phone, and when we print it, it looks grainy. We always suggest a minimum 300 DPI for print, 72 DPI for web. Also, label every visual clearly. A graph with no title or axis labels is just pretty wallpaper—no one can tell what it’s supposed to mean. We work with a SaaS client who used to have a “performance graph” with no labels, and their users thought it was about website traffic, not user engagement. Adding simple labels fixed that confusion right away.
Wait, but what about accessibility? That’s a big one I don’t see talked about enough. If your publication is for people with visual impairments, readability isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s required. For digital, that means using alt text for images, high contrast between text and background (no light gray text on a white background), and making sure your font is screen-reader friendly. For print, that means avoiding low-contrast colors (like yellow text on white paper) and using readable fonts. I once had a nonprofit client tell me they didn’t need to worry about accessibility, but after we tweaked their newsletter’s contrast, they told us a blind donor had reached out to say it was the first publication they’d ever been able to read easily. That’s not just good readability—it’s good business. You’re reaching more people, plain and simple.
Now, let’s talk about how a publication partner makes this easier. We get it—you’re busy. You’ve got deadlines, content to write, a million other things pulling at your attention. Tweaking readability on your own might feel like one more thing on your to-do list. That’s where we come in. We’ve worked with hundreds of clients, so we know exactly which font works for a brochure vs. a annual report, how to break up dense content without losing your voice, and what accessibility rules to follow so your publication isn’t just easy to read, but compliant. We don’t just design and print—we act as a second set of eyes. We’ll look at your content and spot a paragraph that’s too long, a subheading that’s vague, a graph that’s hard to follow, and suggest tweaks that make your publication way more effective, without changing what you’re trying to say. I’ve had so many clients tell us after working together that their publication felt way more polished, and they got way more feedback from their audience than ever before.
Let’s wrap this up: improving readability isn’t about a full overhaul. It’s small, intentional choices: use plain language, break up text into chunks, pick a readable font with good spacing, use active voice, add purposeful visuals, and don’t forget accessibility. These changes don’t just make your publication easier to scan—they make it easier to remember, and easier for your audience to act on what you’re sharing. Whether it’s a newsletter, product catalog, annual report, or marketing brochure, readability is the secret sauce that turns a good publication into a great one.
If you’re looking to level up your next publication—whether you want to tweak readability, rework your design, or get help from start to finish—we’re here to help. We work with all kinds of clients, big and small, to create publications that people actually read and engage with. Hit us up to chat about your project, and we’ll walk through how we can make your content shine.
Packaging Printing References
- Tufte, E. R. (1990). Envisioning Information. Graphics Press.
- Kress, G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication. Arnold.
- Nielsen, J. (2000). Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity. New Riders.
- Williams, J. M. (1995). Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Longman.
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). (2018). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
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