I’m at it again.
Each time I write one of these posts, I’m a completely different blogger from the last one.
I learn new things about blogging as a whole and my perspective changes.
As usual, I am not here to insult anyone.
Why I Hate Your Blog is my way of pointing out things that I’ve seen on blogs that aren’t necessarily in any blogger’s best interest.
Let’s get on with the show.
13 Things I Hate About Your Blog (Part 5)
Before we get started, make sure you check out the first four parts of the series.
Not that they are related; I just want to make sure we are on the same page up to this point.
Unreadable Text – Bad Typography
When I first started this series, I couldn’t care less about the text on your blog. I read what I could and ignored what I couldn’t.
Text has become a big deal to me over the last couple of months, though.
Maybe it’s because I am reading more often now.
Who knows? All I know is that I cannot stand a blog with hard-to-read text.
It’s All About the Content
First of all, we can’t lose sight of what makes your blog unique.
It’s not the design, contrary to popular belief.
It’s your content.
No other blog in the blogosphere has the same exact content as yours from the header to the footer.
Your content is where you make the decision to blend in with the crowd or stick out like the outstanding publisher that you are.
So, arguably, your content is the single most important part of your blog.
You do want people to be able to read it… right?
Understanding Typography
The reason why I didn’t care about my text before is because I didn’t understand typography.
Chris Pearson, the mind behind the Thesis WordPress Theme and Pearsonified.com, sums it up quite nicely in “Secret Symphony: The Ultimate Guide to Readable Web Typography”.
…typography is a combination of artistic letterforms and mathematical proportions, an exquisite marriage of form and function.
When the mathematical proportions of your typography are harmonious, your site—and your content, specifically—look appealing to readers.
Conversely, when the proportions of your typography are imbalanced, your content isn’t as attractive to readers, and your site seems cluttered and disorganized.
In other words, the way your text is displayed matters to your readers… whether they know it or not.
There are many different dimensions that must be considered when configuring content for your blog.
- Font Size
- Line Height
- Line Width
- Characters Per Line
- How big the reader’s eyes are
Wait… not the last one. But the rest are legit.
It’s not as simple as choosing your favorite font and throwing it on the screen like scattered paint.
It doesn’t work that way.
Things to Consider
So, where do you start? Well, I’d like to call myself an expert in this area but that wouldn’t be accurate.
Instead, I’ll point in you the direction of someone who is dedicating a lot of time and effort to revolutionizing the importance of typography in web design.
Again, that’s Chris Pearson.
Check out these two outstanding articles on Typography as it applies to web design.
- Secret Symphony: The Ultimate Guide to Readable Web Typography
- How to Tune Typography Based on Characters Per Line
It is absolutely necessary for you to understand these things in order to enhance the readability of your content for your readers.
After all, you write for them.
After reading those articles, you may be a little bit intimidated by the mathematical equations. I was.
No worries, though.
Pearson has thrown together (understatement of the year) an outstanding tool for you to use called the Golden Ratio Typography Calculator.
All you have to do is plug in a few dimensions and let his math do the work.
Why Does This Matter?
At the end of the day, folks, your content runs the show.
I know that some people will argue with that and that’s fine. I don’t care. All I know is that if I don’t like what you have to say, I’m not going to read your stuff.
So, be sure I can read your text in the first place.
If your text stretches from far left to far right, there’s very little space between lines, and the font size is terribly small in comparison to how wide the content is, I’m not even going to start reading.
It matters because I am human and I naturally like things a certain way.
I’ll never know just how good your content really is if I’m turned off as soon as the page loads. You won’t survive as a blogger that way.
Be sure to check out Pearson’s work and adjust accordingly.
Read the entire series: Why I Hate Your Blog
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