Do You Think The Font We Use Is Still Important Today?

**Lee** · 05-21-2006, 03:14 PM

I remember several years back i was always told to use fonts such as Arial, Verdana, Tahoma etc on any text based sites i built and i was wondering if this i still the case today or, are newer machines coming pre-packaged with more fonts than they used to do?

Obviously when deciding which font to use on our sites we need to take in to effect all kinds of additional stuff like how easy it is to read, what it will look like filling a text page and whether a surfer has the font installed on their machine.

So i was wondering if fonts are still as important as they used to be with sites or as the internet has grown, can we pretty much use any font we want for text based work these days?

Also, do you tend to stick with a specific font when writing text on your sites or do you just choose one that you like the look of?

Regards,

Lee

maxpower · 05-21-2006, 03:55 PM

I only use text like that for search engines, and use new roman’s “basic” text only. I have to force myself to use text at all, normally only use text in the graphic design of the page "PhotoShop" then the type of text is determined on what can bee seen good/stand out, and fit in the spot I need it. Days of text like the old days are coming to an end. Like I said before they are really only good for spiders, maybe some translations too, but still they look really 1999.

**basschick** · 05-21-2006, 04:19 PM

i'm still cautious about fonts, since i don't know for sure that different os come bundled with the same fonts. so i stick with tahoma, verdana, etc. and css can give you tons of variations on the boldness of the font, which can help make a page more attractive.

maxpower - do you actually say these things only to be controversial so more people will post?

in reality, text is always much more effective for sales than putting text on graphics.

maxpower · 05-21-2006, 04:36 PM

I do not know if its really more effective, beyond spiders and such. Would you rather have a text navigation system rather than a PhotoShop “psd”one? Or title of your site done in text, text like that can only be used when you are providing a huge amount of changing text, that is ok to do that but, really most people just look at a page for a few seconded before deciding what they are going to do next. I sure would not say that most viewers really read everything on a page “hell even in pages they have seen 1000 times before” we work in porn they want sex, and most people are very visual, I would not say a picture is worth 1000 words but it sure might be worth 500 :joker:

Originally Posted by basschick

i'm still cautious about fonts, since i don't know for sure that different os come bundled with the same fonts. so i stick with tahoma, verdana, etc. and css can give you tons of variations on the boldness of the font, which can help make a page more attractive.

maxpower - do you actually say these things only to be controversial so more people will post?

in reality, text is always much more effective for sales than putting text on graphics.

**basschick** · 05-21-2006, 04:41 PM

*sigh*

i know i'm wasting my time.

you're just guessing. i never guess when i can test it and find out for sure. we tested text vs graphic text on paysite tours, galleries, avs sites. every time, text made more sales.

perhaps some people view our sites with their graphics turned off till they decide if it sounds good. perhaps using text gives people on slower dsl have something to read while the page is loading. i don't know why but i know that tests using thousands and thousands of hits showed the same results time after time.

maxpower · 05-21-2006, 04:53 PM

Really that’s really weird?? I see you do use it on your members site, but still I do not see why people would like that more? How much better would you say regular text does in % like 5% 20% ?? I would have still add about the same text in the graphics and all. Its just that I would thing text done in graphics looks better and more professional. I guess if you really think I should try an alternate version it would be kinda easy to alter the graphics to include text, but I would only test it on allot smaller amount of traffic first.

**basschick** · 05-21-2006, 05:49 PM

15% - definitely worth trying imo.

maxpower · 05-21-2006, 06:26 PM

Ok thanks I guess I will try, I could make a site like that with a simple 1/3 page title rest text ECT in like one day, with the psd. file I can do allot. I am thinking about doing other things with my site too, when it is open really late next week or the week after “I hope”

robin · 05-21-2006, 08:32 PM

How many fonts and which specific fonts come bundled these days still depends on what the OS and what the specific programs that are either bundled or bought for the machine have been able to license. It has nothing to do with internet growth.

For each site I play around with the fonts to see which looks best for that particular site. Sometimes for headlines and subheads the font will be different than the main body text sometimes not.

SLS · 05-21-2006, 08:52 PM

I'll refer you to my old standard example, http://www.suicidegirls.com
Lots of text, lots going on, lots of features. This is what a REAL adult site is, lots of quality and a very transparent members area, you know exactly what you are getting. Think JustUsBoys too. Why does this sell better? Because surfers KNOW the site has plenty going on before they sign up, and they know the owners of the site care very much about it's content and upkeep.

With a "glossy" tour that has the text inserted in the graphics, surfers get the impression that the sites design was ordered that way from a 3rd party and has little to do with the actual members area or content. They've most likely been burnt by this type of site before, where the designers abilities far outdid the owner's ability to provide a quality members area.

Too answer the original question - YES font still matters very much, and you should still go for the lowest-common-denomenator fonts that you mentioned. Have a look at the two examples I mentioned to see how they used very standard fonts to create really nice looking pages.

Originally Posted by maxpower

Really that’s really weird?? I see you do use it on your members site, but still I do not see why people would like that more? How much better would you say regular text does in % like 5% 20% ?? I would have still add about the same text in the graphics and all. Its just that I would thing text done in graphics looks better and more professional. I guess if you really think I should try an alternate version it would be kinda easy to alter the graphics to include text, but I would only test it on allot smaller amount of traffic first.

maxpower · 05-21-2006, 08:59 PM

But man neither of your examples are a gay members sites, those are link list sites. They about have to have normal plane text.

**longboardjim** · 05-21-2006, 10:06 PM

i see suicide girls has changed their look! , i actually liked the site when i first viewed it. ( why can't people leave a good design alone? )
font i think plays an important role as does the graphics you choose to use , the font should be "readible" ( let the pictures be pretty ) and the graphics should be "sharp"
i use several styles depending on the theme of the model , but my "standard" is... not listed here

sincerely ~ ..."so many fonts , so little time"...

SLS · 05-21-2006, 10:35 PM

I'm not the biggest fan of JUB but I'm pretty sure they have a members area and have for a while. You will never touch their success, but you could learn a few things from them. SG is an adult members only site, a lot of good design practices carry over from one niche to the next. Not sure where you are getting the link list thing, except that JUB does maintain one as part of their huge multifacited network; In my opinion they match their competition in every area they don't beat it.

Originally Posted by maxpower

But man neither of your examples are a gay members sites, those are link list sites. They about have to have normal plane text.

**gaybucks_chip** · 05-22-2006, 12:38 AM

Sean,

You'll probably never get it, but when Basschick or Longboardjim or Gaystoryman or countless other experienced regulars here say something about traffic and what works... they're speaking from experience, based on testing, trial and error, and years of experience.

Basschick in particular has been working in this field since you were in junior high school, and I know at least some of the other regulars here have been in the industry that long or longer. You don't hear them bullshitting about what they don't know, and that's one of the reasons people respect them.

You, on the other hand, are nearly always simply blowing out your ass when you speak.

A lot of what works in marketing -- ANY marketing, adult or otherwise -- is completely counterintuitive. That's why testing is crucial. While we can't generalize much from direct mail to Internet marketing, the one thing we *can* generalize between the two is often what you might guess will work best is dead wrong, and only experience shows what actually works.

Abraham Lincoln once said "It's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." I think that perhaps you could do very well to listen to his advice.