Can we apply anti-aging tips to font sizes? Sure, why not? All that squinting to read stuff might cause crows feet! Egads!
Okay, so you might not be too worried about wrinkles, but you want your audience to be able to read your websites and emails, right? They probably don’t want to squint to see them; if it’s too frustrating, they may give up and leave. A savvy marketer wants the reader to stick around – that is just common sense.
What’s Your Size?
Let’s take a quick survey!
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If you aren’t sure you can check at Stylifyme. So if you are wondering what size you need to be less squinty? Well, it depends.
What Font Size Should You Use?
It is going to depend on the font your body content (paragraphs for example) is using. Typically nothing under 16 pixels. Some fonts run small, you may need to beef them up to 18 pixels (Please note pixels, not points).
But isn’t the standard 12 pixels? Yes, and a few years ago that would have been fine; however, technology doesn’t stand still. Computer and mobile phones have increased resolution display sizes in recent years. Everything looks smaller which means, oh no, those 12 pixel fonts look TINY.
For example:
- Yo – I’m 12 pixels
- That is so yesterday – I’m 14 pixels!
- Puhleese who says that? I’m 16 pixels!
- (Flexing arm muscles) bigger is better, I’m 18 pixels!
Depending on your screen resolution – that will really vary on how that looks for you.
Whoa – What About Emails?
Mobile phone users have really nice resolutions. They have extra squinty text challenges.
Resolutions are so advanced on phones, I took the advice of EmailOnAcid (an email testing service) on recommended phone font sizes. Phone users for my newsletters see 24 pixel font sizes for the body copy.
You can apply this to a website also. Media queries allows you to target mobile users; just set the body copy to 24 pixels instead of the usual 16 pixels. I have done this with 2 websites recently and my clients love it.