How to use free fonts to create a terrific looking travel blog

I started blogging almost eight years ago and feel like I have learned a lot along the way! At first it was more about the technical side of things – learning how to create a site, linking it to my bespoke URL, setting up social media to go with it and learning how to actually write a blog post and publish it.

These days, all of this is still really important but the look and feel of the blog is an essential element of having a successful site too. My site needs to look appealing to readers and one of the most important ways to do this is to think really carefully about fonts to use in the different areas of my blog and supporting social media and marketing materials.

I have outlined this in more detail below and hope it is useful for you if you are thinking of creating a family travel or lifestyle blog too or already have one and want to improve it.

In terms of up-levelling your blogging skills, I have done several trainings which have really helped with this – feel free to message me if you need any advice. There’s an excellent PPC course which is worth checking out and an SEO course which I can highly recommend too.

Logo

Choosing the perfect font or fonts for your logo is a hugely important step in selecting the overarching look of your brand. Be conscious that font trends can change quite easily so if you are looking for longevity with you logo, try to choose something that perhaps isn’t too ‘fashionable’ and that should stand the test of time. When I look back at some of the fonts I used in my original logos, I cringe just a little. They were definitely ‘of the moment’ and although I loved them at the tim. The logos needed to be updated within a year.

Everyone is different, but I quite like having two different fonts in a logo – something quite swirly and creative and something more structured and professional looking. It all comes down to personal preference. Whether you are creating the logo yourself or having it designed by someone else, make sure you try out different font and wait until you have found the perfect one! Don’t rush into it as changing the font, even just for one of the words can make a massive difference.

The Homepage

Your logo will of course be on the homepage as well as the main font which is used for the bulk of your text throughout your site. For other graphics on your homepage, perhaps think of using one of the fonts from your logo so that it all ties in nicely? Personally I wouldn’t go for anything too creative or ‘flowery’ font-wise on your homepage. It should be clean cut, easy to read and showcase the content well. After-all, they say content is king!

The Blog Posts

I use the same ‘paragraph’ font throughout my whole site for the wording on the pages and within the blog posts. You could consider having a different font for ‘related posts’ at the bottom, but to be honest, sometimes it is better to just keep things simple.

Featured Images

I have played around with so many different styles in general for my featured images (the image that shows up at the beginning of the post and when the post is featured on the homepage / category sections) and really wish I had stuck to a certain style as it just looks better that way. If you are looking for fonts free there’s a great range available from Font Bundles.

For big roundup posts, I tend to overlay the image with a rectangular white block and add in the title of the post using a creative and bold font. I will often then use this image as the pic which appears when sharing the link on Facebook and Twitter. Play around with the size of the font, see whether it should be put in ‘bold’ and/or italics and perhaps look at fading out the block which the font sits on as it can sometimes look better that way.

Social Media Posts

I often use different fonts for my social media posts – whether it is a competition, special offer, highlighting a new blog post on Instagram or asking a question.

I keep the actual text to a minimum as most people tend to look at social media through their phones and try to keep the same font throughout all of my social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You social media images should be instantly recognisable, especially when it comes to colours and font. Think about what your followers will see when they scroll down through your social media channels – does it all look consistent and complimentary or does it look like a bit of a jumble? Keeping the same font throughout can really help with the consistency.

Email Newsletter

I use Mailchimp for my email newsletters and try to keep the overall look of it very similar to my homepage. It needs to be instantly recognisable to the reader.

You newsletter should look like an extension of your blog. Using the same fonts as on the homepage as well as identical colours is a must and perhaps adding in some additional images  and graphics too.

Media Pack

Again, this needs to be in line with the other elements of your brand. However I feel like a media pack can perhaps be a bit more corporate and have less flowery font and more of the structured font. It can still be ‘fun’ looking too but it does need to appeal to have a bit more of a ‘corporate’ style in my opinion too.

Client reports

Similar to the media pack, this needs to have a bit more of a corporate style, so could perhaps just feature a couple of fonts from your branding with a couple of colours too.

I always use my logo and like to keep my client reports looking fresh and simple. If I manage to impress a client, then I’m likely to be able to work with them again, which can be a win win situation!

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What sort of fonts do you like to use and do you like to change them quite often?