How To Irk Your Readers In No Time

How To Irk Your Readers In No Time 27 Jul 2012

Whether you realize it or not, you’re irking your readers and it’s time to stop. Half the game is getting people long enough for them to become a lead or a consumer of your products and services. This post will cover a few of the things that your readers get annoyed with. Avoid these to build a successful blog:

too many links
font size
font style
strange use of colors

Let’s begin

1. Too many links

The other day I came across a post that was less than 500 words and it had 7 links, 3 of which were in the first paragraph. This is disgusting for a couple of reasons: it distracts from your message and appears spammy. Those are the last things you want to do, as your readers will press that X mighty fast.

Is there a recipe you should follow here? Yes. Whenever you write a 500 word article, you should have 3 links in the post. However, when you get past 1,000 words, you’ll want to have 4-5 links.

2. Font size

Obviously this is a preference, but font sizes will make you look like you’re yelling or reach for the zoom. While many have great eyesight, it’s better to find a size that is easy on the eyes. Otherwise you’re making your content hard to read. You’ll struggle to get your point across, because they’ll keep obsessing about how hard it is to read.

By now you’re asking yourself a font size to incorporate into your blog(s). Set your sights at 14 and 16, but no bigger or smaller. Try it out and let me know what you think.

3. Font Style

I’ve found that people love the easy and plain fonts. Avoid the cursive, bolded, and extravagant fonts. My favorite fonts to use include: Georgia, Lucide Consoloe and Courier New. Here at PPC.org we like to use Helvetica and it’s size 14. Any time font style is discussed, caps have to be mentioned. The other day I received an email from a list I belong too and the whole thing was in bold and caps. I quickly deleted it. Caps and bold communicate a ‘screaming’ sort of language, and bolding is just annoying to read.

4. Strange use of colors

While colors can be an effective tool to draw attention to your message, many sites will have a variety of colors in their posts. You’re best to keep your font color the same and only modify it when you are linking to something important. When used improperly you send the wrong messages to your readers. Studies have shown that certain colors have certain meaning. For example:

red communicates aggression or force
blue communicates cool and controlled
yellow communicates warning and ‘look at me’

For links, I recommend you use a blue font. It brings contrast to the surrounding context, but doesn’t communicate the wrong message or distract from what I’m trying to say.

Your Turn

What are your favorite font sizes and styles? Comment below.