So, you’ve decided to get your new site built by V3 Media. Congratulations on your upcoming website, and thanks for hiring us! We may need your input, though.
You see, when it comes to building a brand new website, there are actually quite a few factors we need to know before we get started. One of them is about your business’s brand, specifically the nitty-gritty details. In this case, we’re going to talk about one design aspect that really matters in terms of website development: fonts.
Since we’re going to be with you on this new site, it helps to have a refresher course on this subject. Here is how fonts make a difference for your new website and its overall design.
Why You Should Care
Specific fonts can actually be hit or miss in terms of attracting customers to your website. Differing typography styles can also communicate differing messages to your customers on a subconscious level—which, in turn, can help you build your brand’s identity. Specific fonts can convey different things such as strength, stability, trust, etc. If you want to build a family photography website, what kind of font do you think should be used? Would you use the same font style if you’re getting a law firm website built? We’re sure the answer is no.
The font can also help grow your business. After all, 95% of the content we view online daily is written text, so you want your customers to be able to read what you have to offer to them. Using the right font can help your customers feel comfortable as they read more of your content, thus building trust with your visitors and growing your business in the process.
Your business will not grow online if you don’t pick a good font. That’s why we are covering the subject.
- Start with Making Sure the Fonts Match Your Brand’s Language & Tone
Anytime you choose a font, website or no, it has to be a choice that aligns with your brand’s identity. Think of it like dressing up to go out. Do you want to appear casual and lighthearted, or formal and elegant? You wouldn’t dress up in jeans to go to a gala show, so why treat the fonts for your online presence the same way?
As for trending fonts, ignore them for the most part. Trends come and go, but style will always be the same. That applies to anything related to graphic and website design as well.
- Pick 3 Fonts Only, and Stick with That Number
It’s an important rule of thumb to never, ever use more than three fonts on your website. That’s because the more fonts you use, the more distracted people will be when the read your content and the more frustrated they’ll become, meaning fast exits from your site.
These three fonts will be your primary, secondary, and accent fonts. The primary font is your most visible one, the kind you use in the site headers. If you can, it’s best that this primary font matches the style of your business’s logo (if there’s text inside it). It’s basically the font type that people will most identify with your brand.
The secondary font largely consists of the ‘meat’ of your site’s content, such as for paragraphs, descriptions, blog posts, etc. The primary’s goal is to attract people to read; the secondary’s goal is to be legible and understandable, even significant and helpful to the people reading it.
Lastly, the accent font is the type you could use to stand out amidst the bulk of your content, usually in the form of a call to action. This is the font with a purpose, and that purpose may be to get people to contact your business or buy a product—whichever action you want customers to follow through with.
Stick with these 3 fonts, and no more than that. Otherwise, you’re looking at a very messy website that makes people assume you can’t make a proper decision (and they’d be right!).
- Know Your Serifs
These are the most important classifications of typography worth knowing about: the serif, the sans serif, and the script.
- The serif is the small line attached to the end of a letter or symbol stroke; an example is Times New Roman. Serif font is commonly used in newspapers and magazines, and are considered to be classic and elegant fonts.
- Sans serif is the font you are reading right now; note that there are no strokes attached to any of the letters. It’s definitely the best type of font for computers and smartphones.
- Script font is closest to the fancy fonts one would see being used in the 17th Like serif and sans serif, script font has its own subset of types broken into several formal and casual varieties. Cursive is a form of casual script. Because it’s such a curvaceous type of font, however, it’s best to use script fonts to a minimum, such as titles as opposed to paragraphs. Always use this type of font with intent, not casually.
Knowing the difference between all of these fonts can help you better understand which would work the best for your brand and voice online.
- Weight & Size Both Matter
Once you’ve determined a few font options, you need to decide on the size and thickness of how it will look for large headlines, sub-headlines, and paragraph text. Sizes will be entirely dependent on how much content you have to provide, but a good in-between guideline can be 15-19 for paragraphs, 21-29 for sub-headlines, and 30-60 for titles and headlines, as an example. This can be something you discuss with your designer, also.
The thickness is often referred to as the ‘weight’ of the font, which can also have an impact on the content’s readability. Examples of giving a font style weight include emphasizing with bold, italics, or underlines. Too much emphasis can steer you off track of your style, however. Use emphasis sparingly in terms of content.
Now that you’ve had a refresher on fonts in general, it’s time to do the next best thing in choosing the font for your website:
- Hire Us
Yes, we’re serious. Website design along with web development for brand new websites is one of our company’s main specialties. We’ve been focusing on things like font and how a website should look and function properly for over 20 years!
Fonts are amazing in that they are simultaneously the smallest and biggest factor into whether or not your website will convert visitors into paying customers. If you want your website to stand out from the crowd online, with font styles that really articulate your brand, then give us a call. Get yourself a website that works well and looks good, too.