Choosing the Right Font for Your Website
When making a website, there is a lot to think about. There should be a balance between writing good content and having a visually appealing website. Good content doesn’t mean much when a site looks bad. When creating your website something that should not be overlooked is the fonts that are used. A main reason for this is that they give first impressions of your website, visitors will focus on the text which will give first impressions. This will be a short guide on how to choose the best fonts for your website.
Serif or sans?
What is the difference between sans fonts and serif fonts? A serif font has decorative strokes at the ends of letters, such as Times New Roman. A sans font does not have any, such as Arial. Sans typefaces are known for having a modern, clean design. Whereas serif fonts are typically used to bring a more formal and elegant tone. It all depends on the style that you are going for.
Placement of text
Where text is placed has a lot of importance as it contributes to font design. You can align text to the left, center or right. Left aligned text is usually the easiest to read as it is what people are used to. Another choice to do with text is having justified or ragged text. Ragged text is where one edge of sentences in a paragraph do not line up neatly. This can be on the left or right side. Justified text is where both edges of a paragraph are neatly aligned, this can add extra space in-between words which can be slightly difficult to read. Choosing the right text placement on a website all depends on the style you want to achieve. Justified text can create a sense of symmetry and formality, when it is done well. Ragged text which is left aligned is more natural to read. When the margin is set to the right, it gives off a more informal style.
Make sure your fonts match your brand’s tone
Your typography should match your brand’s tone. The fonts you choose should work well together, as well as with the rest of your website. This means ensuring that your fonts are cohesive with the rest of your visual branding. This can be using the same font for parts of your website as the ones used in your brand logo. Another thing to make sure of is that your typographics match your design purpose. If you want your website to have an effective design then you should think about which font combinations work best with each other.
Rank fonts by importance
The number of fonts that you use should be limited, realistically there is no need to use more than three fonts. You don’t want to overcomplicate things with too many fonts. It is typically one font for headings and one for the body text. Adding bold and italics to them could count as even more. The primary font is the one most visible on your webpage, such as in your brand logo and headings. This font should be the one which is the most cohesive with your brand identity. The secondary font should be used for the body text, such as any descriptions. This should be simple and easy to read. The tertiary font is not always used, but can be for specific elements on a website such as a navigation menu. You should keep in mind that pairing fonts can be hard, so it is important to ensure that you limit the number of fonts used so that they can match.Think about load timesSlow websites can increase the bounce rate. This is why if fonts take too long to load, they are not the right ones to use. Load speed is a reason why you shouldn’t have too many fonts on your website. You should also only choose the styles that you need when downloading a font, such as the normal and the bold style. This should be the same with downloading the languages for font. If you only require a few then make sure to deselect the ones you won’t use when downloading it.
Test how your font appears on different devices and screen sizes
Font design should always be thought about, as typography makes up about 90% of website content. This will have a direct influence on user experience and will determine whether users stay or leave your site. To make sure that all of your audience has a good experience on your site, you should test how your fonts appear on different devices and screen sizes.
