Type Introduction Which are best? Making great headlines Stick with 2 typefaces Ascenders & descenders Width of columns Take our ad effectiveness course. Learn what you need to know to get a great response the first time you run. Just $59 • Get more readers seeing your ad • Get more readers reading your ad • Get more readers responding

With all the typefaces available these days, including many decorative ones, it's tempting to take advantage of them. But be careful. While you might be able to get away with some less traditional typefaces in a headline, make sure any longer blocks of text that follow are more traditional.

Serif (Times New Roman)	Sans Serif (Helvetica)

While serif typefaces such as Times New Roman or Baskerville have been found the most easy to read, sans-serif typfaces such as Ariel and Helvetica do even better for very small type.

Body copy in a decorative typeface can be difficult to read

An ad that makes the reader work to decipher its long, decorative copy, as in the example above, will result in a lower readership. The ad below will be much easier to read, and as a result, more reader will make it through your ad.

Stick with the more traditional typefaces for body copy and your ad's readership will increase

Headlines are another story, though. Since there are less words for a reader to absorb, you can use more interesting typefaces. Keep in mind, though, that a headline should help readers to quickly decide whether they want to read the ad or not, so make sure it's easy for them to understand it in the short time a reader glances at it or they may not read further.

Next: Making great headlines

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