How to choose the best typefaces for your web site as well as branding
The font you choose for your website says a lot about the personality of your company and values. Follow these seven guidelines to choose the right font for your site.
It's likely that fonts are something that's not important when you're designing your website.
The windows are what decorate the structure, aren't they?
Not quite.
Fonts are a vital part of branding. They have huge impressions on how people think of your business.
Today, we bring you seven essential tips for finding the perfect fonts for your site, from choosing the top fonts and the best places you can download the fonts.
It could change everything.
First, let's explain why a font with different names isn't equally sweet.
The importance of fonts for websites?
There's a lot riding on the fonts you use on your website because they help communicate your business character, image and principles.
Visually the font on your site conveys an idea to your visitors in a way that they do not have to read the website's content.
For instance, Mailchimp , that rebranded its website using Cooper Light, a typeface. Cooper Light.
Why did they choose Cooper Light?
Mailchimp considers that the font could be "dressed-up as well as casual and accessible". It also conveys trustworthiness, sincerity, and optimism. These are qualities that match their values as a brand.
The right fonts also provide a purpose. They allow users to quickly understand the message of your company on a variety of different devices and platforms.
Airbnb For instance, Airbnb chose a font dubbed Cereal because it works well with a wide range of offline and online platforms. Cereal is a font that presents Airbnb as user-friendly and accessible.
When it comes to accessibility, it's important to choose a font that's easily accessible to all the people who are part of your audience in particular if your company has a variety of languages.
If you pick the right font, one that is readable by visitors who use different languages, users who utilize an automated translator will be able to navigate your site easily.
For an example, we can use the text " The quick brown the fox ."
In English, the text is easily read in the Merriweather font.
But, when translated into Czech, it's much less readable and aesthetically-pleasing.
So, if a significant part of your audience is translating your website into another language, ensure that your font can be read in every language.
Beyond the ability to read, many research studies have shown that fonts can influence consumers' views of a brand and its products in general.
In particular, font characteristics -- like naturalness, harmony, and weight -affect your customers' general impression of your brand.
Also, they affect the audience's purchasing intention.
The study also discovered that when shoppers look for an enjoyable vacation, having a simple font increases their willingness to shell out for an excursion.
In contrast, however, when shoppers search for a more adventurous tour the font that is more difficult to read increases their willingness to pay for a tour.
Apart from the above impacts, fonts also affect the customer experience after the point at which they purchase and influence the perception of your product and the overall experience for customers.
In fact, in one case, curvilinearity -or fonts that have curvilinear lines -- changed diners' tastes expectations as well as their experiences.
What's the moral here?
Website fonts influence how your users perceive your brand's image product, services, and experience as well as affecting the accessibility of your website and its ease-of-use.
However, choosing the right font to send an appropriate message is just one part of the puzzle.
Learn about the four most effective practices we recommend, and you'll be a lot further along in finding the perfect font for your business.
Four tips to choose the most appropriate fonts for your site
Tip #1: Make sure you use accessible fonts
The ideal fonts for a website are ones that can be easily read.
Otherwise, your website visitors may abandon your site because it's hard to understand. Naturally, this will mean that they will spend less time absorbing your advertising messages, and less time exploring the offerings of your website.
So, readability should be the first thing you consider when selecting a site font. It'll help make everything -- from your blog posts to call-to-action (CTA) buttons and headers -- much more digestible.
There isn't a single universal font for websites that will work well for all businesses, Verdana and Georgia are good choices for displaying long website texts.
The same is confirmed by this research in which Verdana proved to be excellent for reading texts on screens.
Readability is particularly important in the case of the display of testimonials on your site. Indeed, difficult-to-read fonts could negatively impact positive reviews and shoppers believe an individual reviewer to be more trustworthy when the review they write is simple to comprehend.
Although, while readability is a big priority, it comes with a caveat: easy-to-read fonts might not be as memorable.
This is so much that one study found when writing in difficult to read fonts, it's more likely to be remembered in comparison to when you write in a simple font.
The study cautions not to go too far, though, as well as using fonts that made reading difficult in general for those who read.
This raises the question: how should you balance between easy-to-ready and difficult-to-read fonts on your site?
Simply put, follow the two parts of this rule of thumb:
Wild Side Design For instance, it utilizes a variety of fonts, which draw users' attention towards different areas on their web page.
The majority of the content on its website is in an easily readable font but its CTAs or captions as well as headlines are written in more complex fonts.
Another example is to go at the Mad Hippie which is a cosmetics business. It displays a font that is handwritten in order to highlight the subheadings as well as short descriptions of its offerings.
No matter what mix you choose in fonts, here's what you need to know:
The fonts that are simple to read are typically the best fonts for website text, specifically long pieces of copy. The fonts with the most difficulty to read might be ideal for key information -- with shorter lengths which you wish people to be able to recall.
Fonts and copy lengths aren't the only factors to experiment with, though. There's also size to consider this leads us to the next tip.
Tip 2: Make your Font size large (enough)
There isn't a uniform font size for websites however, you'll need to design it in a way that is big enough for your visitors to be able to read it on any size device.
A study suggested that sites with lots of text be using the font of size 18 or larger.
In the same study, it was found that reading comprehension, as well as correct responses to comprehension-related questions are higher when the font size.
In addition, bigger size fonts can aid people who have difficulties with reading or sight.
What's more, for both older and younger individuals, larger font sizes can lead to greater productivity, accuracy, seeing distance and lower perception of task difficulty.
If all that's enough to convince you to go with a bigger font on your website, here's one more consideration to consider.
Font size can affect website comprehension and readability for individuals with dyslexia, too. This study suggests using an 18-point font to design a website with individuals with dyslexia.
To summarize:
The two points we have provided so are focused on usability, our third tip is focused on the aesthetics of the fonts.
Tips #3: Avoid using excessive sizes of fonts, fonts, or color schemes.
Using a few different fonts, font sizes, and colors in your website can draw attention to various components of your site, such as CTAs or testimonials as well as other text that is important to your site.
This being said that you must limit how your fonts and colors employ, to ensure a consistent, visually pleasing experience.
If not then your site could appear too complicated or difficult to navigate. Also, you may miss the target when it comes to conveying your message because your page is too cluttered with variation.
For an example of a brand that does a solid job in their choice of font colors and messaging, look to Lowe's that uses black, blue, white and gray fonts and a variety of fonts on their site.
This is in keeping with the brand's colors and gender-neutral DIY home improvement branding.
Workationing is also able to balance the variation in fonts well on their website. It uses black text for headlines and text that is longer as well as white text for buttons, headlines, and shorter text.
While you should feel free to experiment with colors beyond the black and white tones It is generally recommended to use no more than two or three hues.
This is due to the fact that colors other than white and black can be difficult to read when you are on a site. Therefore, you should use non-black and white colors for accent colors to draw attention to something you want to highlight on your site.
Take "The Abundant Artist" for an illustration. The majority of their text has black fonts, they use orange for headlines and category headings for articles.
If you're wondering how to select the most appropriate combination for your website take a look at this article on fonts that go together . If you're using Google fonts on your site, don't miss these 21 Google font combinations .
Basically:
It's fine to add some flair to your website by adding diverse fonts size, colors, or sizes. Be sure that each font works well with each other, and provides a clean and seamless experience for your visitors.
Limit your zing to a minimum though, since you'll need to ensure that your designs are consistent across all your pages.
Tip #4: Make sure you keep your fonts constant
Our last tip for this week is to utilize fonts consistently throughout your entire web site.
Why?
In addition to enhancing your brand's power, regular the use of fonts on your site provides users with a more enjoyable user experience and makes perusing your website more enjoyable.
Particularly, using the same fonts within the same formats (such for headlines or body content) helps visitors find details more quickly. After all, 56% of users are hoping to find the information they need in three clicks or less. So any effort you make to ease navigation is super beneficial.
Plus, when you present an unifying appearance to your website, you seem more trustworthy and professional.
This is a big deal considering a whopping 48percent customers say that a company's website is among the most reliable sources of information.
The process of gaining trust from your site's visitors must be done quickly as well. Nowadays, users judge a website's credibility within 3.42 minutes by its visual appeal.
In addition, the consistency of the image of a company and its website can lead to an positive outlook towards the company as well.
To help you experience all these benefits For you to get the most out of these benefits, here are two examples of companies that employ consistent fonts.
Amazon uses the Amazon Ember font. Amazon Ember throughout its homepage.
Not to toot our own our own horn, but we use the same fonts on the headers as well as regular text on the site's pages.
The main takeaway is that you should use the same fonts for the identical elements throughout your website, so that it is easy for your visitors to navigate around.
Now that you're familiar with font best practices Let's take a look at ways you can use these to choose the most appropriate font for your site.
Find the right font for your site?
#1. Determine what message you'd like the font you choose to use to communicate
While readability should be your primary consideration when choosing the font you choose however, the message that you would like it to send is the second.
The restaurant opted for the font they chose to go with their brand image of haute food, such as.
Nature is an academic journal. chose a font called Harding since they needed the font to better represent mathematical symbols and formulae.
They also chose a new font that gave off an impression of "calm, rational intelligence" to align with their brand.
Although fonts are merely substitutes for spoken words, they can send off surprising different signals.
Think about Times News Roman, a well-known font. Times New Roman was perceived as more angry and funny as Arial when the participants of the study were reading satirical text using Arial. Times font.
In a separate study, experimental participants were shown emails that were written using various types of fonts.
People who were exposed to an email that was written in Gigi (which you will see below) considered it more rebellious and youthful as opposed to the other fonts they studied. The participants also considered Gigi as less reliable as well as practical.
People also believed that the writer in the Gigi email to be less professional, trustworthy, and more mature.
These findings suggest that fonts can say a lot more about your business and your personality than just the literal terms they portray.
To make sure your viewers are interpreting your message properly, check the fonts you use prior to an overall launch.
2. Test your fonts on your target audience
The font you choose to use should not just be simple to read but it should also be fun to read.
According to the saying that time is a blur when you're having fun just like reading your site.
The fact is that the test participants underestimated how long they spent reading a text by 3 minutes and 18 seconds in the average when they read a text that had good typography.
As opposed to people who read a text with a poor font and underestimated their reading time in 24 seconds, at a typical.
The results suggest that a quality font will retain readers' attention to the text on your website, therefore it's worth finding the right one.
Your findings might upend your expectations But that's not a bad aspect -- your investigation can help you determine ways to make your website better for customers, not confirm your theories.
You might, for instance, think that using a simpler font could boost conversions on your sales and product pages. A study conducted by a researcher concluded that incorporating the smoother font wasn't effective to increase the rate at which an eCommerce site converts customers.
The lesson here is to test fonts with your audience before applying them to your entire website. Customers' interpretations of those fonts -- and how they react to them- may surprise you.
However, if the results are inconclusive or you don't have enough people to survey You can choose our final suggestion.
#3: When in doubt you are unsure, choose a regular font
As you work out which fonts are best to represent your company, stay with top website fonts like Georgia and Verdana.
We mentioned it earlier that numerous studies have proven Verdana to be one of the most effective fonts to use for websites body text.
A research study found that the participants in the study showed an preference for Verdana for reading text in a computer's screen. The participants also read faster and experienced fewer regressions (backward movement) while reading text that was written in Verdana.
An additional study showed that the participants prefer a 12 point dot-matrix Arial font. Another study suggests that readers are able to comprehend more information when reading sans serif fonts.
You might be concerned that your clients might mistake the business with another one if you use a font that is widely used which isn't unreasonable.
Some companies have been criticized for using the same or similar fonts for their logos -- just consider how similar the fonts utilized in Google, Airbnb, Spotify as well as Pinterest have been.
But, as entrepreneur Thierry Brunfaut notes, using similar styles to those used by others in your industry can be beneficial.
Thierry stated that:
"The amount of visuals users are bombarded with every day is tremendous -on the streets as well as on a laptop or even on their smartphone.
An unorganized visual space that makes it hard to navigate through. Impact and, most of everything, clarity, are now the main words used by any brand.
All these powerful and neutral logos send the consumer the same message that our brand and services are easy, simple, and clear. Also, they are extremely easy to read."
Basically:
Avoid avoiding common fonts- they can often assist users to navigate your site or send a stronger message to customers than a unique (untested) font could.
Whether you're sticking with your old font or are looking to try a completely new font, check out the font foundries below for creating new fonts for your website.
How do you find the most effective fonts for your website?
In the case of finding fonts that you can use on your site, there are two choices. First, you can use the built-in fonts in your website design software of choice.
Another option is to utilize the font finder or an online site where fonts are for sale and/or for sale. This, naturally, opens you up to more possibilities.
The top online font foundries include:
#1. Google Fonts
Google Fonts can be described as one of the best font sites and, in my opinion, the most popular website to download free fonts. Users can download hundreds of fonts open source that can be used for over 135 languages.
Each of the fonts on Google Fonts is free to use and is able to be used for commercial use .
#2. Fonts.com
Like Google Fonts, Fonts.com offers thousands of fonts to choose in front of more than 150,000 to be exact.
But, it is necessary to purchase each font before making use of the font.
#3. Fontspring
Fontspring can be described as an online font shop that offers thousands of paid fonts.
What differentiates Fontspring distinct from other finders is the fact that they have a badge for fonts that do not impose any unusual rules or restrictions on users.
The risk of committing a breach with a font purchased from their platform.
#4. What Font
While it's not a font store that are available, it will help in locating a font another site that you'd like to use to create your own.
#5. Type Detail
If you've found a font you like, but aren't sure what it's going to look like in various sizes and weights, head over to Type Detail.
Type Details reveals (naturally) information about a variety of popular fonts, such as this font profile named Neue Swift .
Among other things, Type Detail shows how the font looks in different weights and sizes, which distinguishes the font from others in comparison to other fonts.
Now that you know where to find your ideal font, check out how you can easily change fonts in your online shopfront.
Change the fonts of your shopfront
It is possible to change your site's the fonts within a glance when you have your own storefront on .
Then, go to the Editor tab, then pick the pages you would like to edit. Select the style of your headings as well as the style of your body in the "Fonts" dropdown menu.
Simply click the downward-facing arrow on each box of fonts, and select the font you like.
And there you go! You've just added a unique font for your shopfront.
Pick the best typeface for your site in a few simple steps
Fonts do more than represent words -- they can impact how people view your company.
Naturally, choosing a font for your business must be a priority along with choosing the appropriate color scheme, logo, as well as the layout of your website.
If you are using fonts on websites You should follow these guidelines:
Use an easy-to-read font
Create a font that is large enough to allow most people to be able to read (size 18 font or bigger)
Avoid using too many styles, sizes, or colors
Make sure that your fonts are consistent
Select a font which conveys the correct message about your company
Try out your font in front of your target audience
Use a common font if you can't yet decide which fonts to go with.
As with the appropriate color scheme and logo the fonts on your site can be an impact on a negative and a positive impression for the visitors to your site. Here's to providing a positive one.