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Bold, Italic or Underlined?

by CityCliq
17 replies
This may seem overly granular, but I'm curious if any of you web copywriters have done any user testing on which sort of typographic emphasis - bold, italic or underlinning - leads to greater conversions.

I was at a web design conference a few weeks ago where a few luminaries in the field made joking asides to how underlining is the new italic. But it got me wondering if this once over-emphatic style has become effective again. Thoughts?
#bold #italic #underlined
  • Profile picture of the author George Sepich
    Bold works best for me. Depending on the font used, Italiic can make the word harder to read, and that goes against the whole purpose of bringing attention to it in the first place. Same goes with underlines, they can also make the copy harder to read, and another thing with underlines, so many hyperlinks are still styled with having an underline, that can cause further confusion. For those reasons I like "bold", and sometimes a color change with the "bold" as well.

    George
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    • Profile picture of the author Aj Wilson
      so many hyperlinks are still styled with having an underline, that can cause further confusion.
      or it could help draw attention to a specific call to action?

      most web users these days have been "conditioned" to kind of
      sub-conciously look for links to click on...

      but George has a good point on how italics can make
      the text difficult to read depending on the size & font.

      I like using all 3 ... it's good to use seperate ways of emphasizing
      throughout your copy otherwise the emphasis can be lost with overuse of one style too many times.

      I especially like using Navy Blue and Dark Red/Maroon alongside
      bolds, italics and underlines as it gives you another 3 different combinations to use.

      Interesting topic of discussion!
      (sometimes it's the really little things that get my attention)


      - aj
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      • Profile picture of the author George Sepich
        Originally Posted by Aj Wilson View Post

        or it could help draw attention to a specific call to action?

        most web users these days have been "conditioned" to kind of
        sub-conciously look for links to click on...

        but George has a good point on how italics can make
        the text difficult to read depending on the size & font.

        I like using all 3 ... it's good to use seperate ways of emphasizing
        throughout your copy otherwise the emphasis can be lost with overuse of one style too many times.

        I especially like using Navy Blue and Dark Red/Maroon alongside
        bolds, italics and underlines as it gives you another 3 different combinations to use.

        Interesting topic of discussion!
        (sometimes it's the really little things that get my attention)


        - aj
        Hi AJ,
        For Dark Blue I use hex values #000080 and for the Red/Maroon I use
        #990000. Those have worked well for a long time.

        I agree with you about how underlines could help draw attention to a specific call to action. But if you are in a non IM niche, dealing with people not so used to how html works, and they go to click on an underline thinking its a hyperlink, but its not, that will just irritate them. I do use underlines, but just not too often.

        George
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        • Profile picture of the author CityCliq
          Good points from both of you, specifically on the underlining. I think people are still trained to view underlined web text as a link, rendering it less effective as a means of emphasis.

          Thanks!
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          • Profile picture of the author Paul Hooper-Kelly
            Hi CityCliq,

            I use bold and italic - but never underlining - when writing an online sales page.

            But underlining is okay for a direct mail shot.

            It's important to use them (sparingly) to create a conversational tone to your letter. Just as you would not speak in a monotone, you need to vary the pace and emphasis of your writing.

            Warmest regards,

            Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author Globolstaff24
      Originally Posted by George Sepich View Post

      Bold works best for me. Depending on the font used, Italiic can make the word harder to read, and that goes against the whole purpose of bringing attention to it in the first place. Same goes with underlines, they can also make the copy harder to read, and another thing with underlines, so many hyperlinks are still styled with having an underline, that can cause further confusion. For those reasons I like "bold", and sometimes a color change with the "bold" as well.

      George
      Quite agree. I think Bold is the most suitable, too.
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      • Profile picture of the author mrdomains
        I am not a fan of underlining because it lacks punch, and is in conflict with the general association of underlining/links.

        For short phrases or single words, bolding. The downside is you need to use it sparingly for effect.

        For whole sentences, font size manipulation. Works multiple times in a document without hurting the eye too much.
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  • Profile picture of the author Pisaka
    Personally I close the pages where the most part of information is in Italic. Hate reading such documents! And bold is OK!
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  • Profile picture of the author houseaz
    Mostly choose bold and hardly ever underline. It just screams click me please. Only to be sad and disappointed.
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  • Profile picture of the author geegel
    It depends what you are highlighting. I prefer bold whenever I want to punch in a word and italic whenever I want to highlight an internal thought, something to let the reader know that they are reading something they are not supposed to read.

    This is how I interpret the reasonable expectations coming from the readership. Could be wrong of course. So... my answer is: when in doubt TEST

    Best regards,
    George
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  • Profile picture of the author Hank Rearden
    Personally, I've yet to see Italics do anything serious in any test.

    Underline and bold have both performed well.

    Answer = test.

    - HR
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    • Profile picture of the author Devid Farah
      Bold is the best for me but you can test,test and test!
      Sincerely i don't like italic.
      Bold is great for some fonts: for example if you use impact font(especially for headlines) don't use bold!

      Regards!
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  • Profile picture of the author kimwriter
    Originally Posted by CityCliq View Post

    This may seem overly granular, but I'm curious if any of you web copywriters have done any user testing on which sort of typographic emphasis - bold, italic or underlinning - leads to greater conversions.

    I was at a web design conference a few weeks ago where a few luminaries in the field made joking asides to how underlining is the new italic. But it got me wondering if this once over-emphatic style has become effective again. Thoughts?
    There is no hard fast rule on this, its more of trial and error. what may work on other sites may not work on your because of a combination of many other factors in the site's layout.
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    • Profile picture of the author kellyquanan
      Good stuff from both of you, especially emphasis. I think people are always trained to see the highlighted text as a web link which makes it less effective as a means of weight.
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  • Profile picture of the author vanmed
    I prefer bold text. Eyesight does not always play favorites with italics and underlining is still over-emphatic and denigrates the fluidity of copy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stephen Bray
    Plain, bold, underlined, italic, different colours
    may all be used if they're readable.

    In some fonts they aren't, such as Times Roman
    when used on web pages.

    What I like to do is to decide what each kind
    of emphasis will be a code for in my copy.

    So instructions may be emboldened, subliminals
    underlined, headlines coloured uniformly but
    varied in h1 h2 h3 type to aid SEO optimization,
    without making it too obvious.

    As others have noted, whatever you do needs
    to be done sparingly. The aim being to guide
    your reader into specific sets of emotion and
    reflexes rather than shouting at them.

    Stephen
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruce Wedding
    Just because nobody has mentioned it, underlining is a typographic no-no. Now you can place a rule under text, but not underline.

    At least to the rules of typography.

    As to how it tests, I'm not sure. I use bold almost exclusively.
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