Increase engagement by 20%Good Fonts and Typography “Hacks” That Increase Readership

Good fonts and smart typography matter

Choosing a Good Font – Serif or Sans Serif?

When choosing a good font for your website, print or advertisement it’s important to choose one that people can read.  Serif or Sans Serif is a pretty tired argument that hopefully we can put to rest here.

The fact is, Serif fonts are easier to read.

There I said it. With that said, the rest is up to personal preference and project specifics.

One of many reasons Serif’s make good fonts is because each letter incorporates small decorative lines that embellish the character, and thus make it easier to read.  People with dyslexia also commonly report that they prefer Serif fonts as they make each character individually legible. Just because Serif is “easier” to read does not mean it is the only good font type.

Serif’s are easier to read but that doesn’t mean they’re “better”

There are plenty of good Sans Serif fonts out there. Montserrat is among my favorite Sans Serif fonts and is very legible.  If you’re opting for Sans Serif fonts pick a font that has been crafted with legibility in mind.

Kernelling and line height can play a big role in how well your users can read the content as well.

Examples of Good Fonts

But what if you don’t want to use a serif font?

Serifs aren’t the end all be all when it comes to good fonts.  These Sans Serif fonts will get the job done too!  Here are two of my favorite sans serif fonts.​​​​​​​  Montserrat and Proxima Nova.

Proxima Nova is another excellent choice for a Sans Serif font.  I prefer this font (as do many others) over Futura for it’s crisp and geometric typeface.

If you want to check out more fonts, or get some of the fonts mentioned in this post you can head over to https://fonts.google.com/

Here are a couple more free font resources:

• https://www.fontsquirrel.com/
• https://www.fontspace.com/
• https://www.dafont.com/

10 Typography Hacks to Get Your Content Read From Beginning to End

Like most things, our eyes are creatures of habit and good font selection helps that, but there’s even more we can do to improve our typography.

1. Include a subheading of two lines.  This goes between your headline and your body copy.  Let your readers know what they can expect to get out of your content.

2. A drop initial to kick off your body copy increases readership by approximately 12%
   This is a drop initial. Here you can mix two good fonts.  A sans serif and a serif, if you so desire.

3. Opening paragraphs should be limited to eleven words, maximum.

4. Every 3 inches or so, include cross heads to continue engaging readers. Use them throughout your copy.

   Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Aliquam sem et tortor consequat id porta. Dignissim cras tincidunt lobortis feugiat vivamus at.

   This is a Cross Heading Use Them Throughout

   Tincidunt vitae semper quis lectus. Pharetra massa massa ultricies mi. Neque gravida in fermentum et. Tempus egestas sed sed risus pretium. Tellus molestie nunc non blandit massa enim nec.

5. Square up paragraphs and use short line to increase readership.

6. Highlight important paragraphs in bold or italics.

7. Entice readers into your paragraphs with arrowheads, bullet points, asterisk’s or other symbols.

8. If you have a lot of facts, that don’t compliment your copy, avoid using connective words.  Simply number or bullet point them, like I’ve done here.

9. What size font should you use?  11 point is about right.

10. If you use leading and line spacing between paragraphs readership increases by approximately 13%.

Src. Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz, Ogilvy on Advertising, Robert McMillin