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FontAlternatives started as a font reference site. Adding a blog was a deliberate content strategy decision. Here’s what we learned about making a blog work for a niche reference site.
Why a Blog on a Reference Site
Reference pages (our /alternatives/ and /fonts/ pages) answer specific queries: “what is similar to Helvetica?” Blog posts answer broader questions: “what are the best fonts for dashboards?” or “why are serifs coming back?”
These broader queries capture users earlier in their decision process and funnel them to specific font pages. A user reading about the best variable fonts for product UI is likely to click through to individual font pages mentioned in the article.
What Works
”Fonts like X” posts
Posts titled “Fonts like [Premium Font]” are our highest-performing blog content. They target the exact search query users type and link directly to the relevant alternatives page. Each post is a condensed version of the full page — enough to answer the question quickly, with a clear path to deeper information.
Comparison posts
“Font A vs Font B” posts work well because they match a natural decision-making query. When someone is choosing between two fonts, they search for the comparison. We target these with posts like Google Sans Flex vs Inter and Stack Sans vs Source Sans 3.
Trend and opinion posts
Posts about typography trends (serif comeback, grotesk fatigue, variable fonts as brand systems) attract designers browsing rather than searching. These posts generate less search traffic but more engagement and sharing. They also establish editorial authority.
What We Got Wrong Initially
Too much focus on technical process. Our earliest posts were about our tech stack (Astro, Cloudflare, CI/CD). These attract developers but not designers — our actual audience. We still publish technical posts but shifted emphasis toward typographic content.
Not enough internal linking. Early blog posts linked to 1-2 font pages. We now aim for 5-10 internal links per post, connecting to specific font pages, category pages, and related blog posts. Internal linking is the primary mechanism for distributing authority across the site.
Underestimating long-tail. We initially focused on popular fonts. Adding coverage for less-searched fonts (Tier 2) expanded our total addressable search volume significantly. The long tail of typography queries is large.
Content Model
Every blog post follows a structure:
- Answer-first intro — state the recommendation immediately
- Comparison table — visual summary for scanners
- Written analysis — context for readers
- Internal links — connect to font pages and related posts
- FAQ — capture additional search queries in a structured format
This structure serves both users (fast answers) and search engines (structured content, internal links, FAQ markup).
FAQ
How do you decide what to blog about? Three inputs: search demand data (what are users looking for?), editorial calendar (trends and timely topics), and content gaps (what questions aren’t answered by our reference pages?).
How important is blog content vs. reference pages for SEO? Reference pages drive the majority of organic traffic through specific font queries. Blog posts supplement with broader queries and provide the internal linking structure that strengthens the whole site.
Do you accept guest posts? Not currently. Editorial consistency requires that all content goes through our research and validation process.