what is the importance of formatting in a document?

Answer 1

Well, formatting helps you to present your document in a way - it is easy to understand. For example, if you are writing a story, the story name formatted at centre of page, in bigger font size with a different color makes it easy for readers to read and understand. It improves your document's visibility.

There are wide variety of formatting options available like
* Fonts: Size, Bold, Underline, Color etc.
* Drawings: Lines, Boxes, Flowcharts, Images etc.
* Tables: for presenting boxed information
* Bullets: for sub-points and tasks kind of things

If you see any website (like yahoo answers) its contents is formatted well. That gives a pleasant view and its easy to read.

Answer 2

because formatting makes the document easier for the reader to understand. Try to read a long piece of information which is not divided under headings or a particular sequence (like in novels).
You'd get bored and throw it away within 5 minutes.

Answer 3

makes reading more understable