How to Effectively Use Fonts on Your Website

The way text appears online and in print are very different.  Fonts that are appropriate and easy to read on paper are often not the best choice for your website content.  If you use a font that is more appropriate for printed media, your website may appear unprofessional and messy to the viewer.  Keeping all your content the same, but simply changing the font can have a significant impact on how the information you are providing is received by your readers.

One important thing to keep in mind when creating your website is readability.  You want to use a font that has a high readability for not only your human readers, but for search engines as well.  Remember, search engines can only “read” the fonts that are picked up as text.  This is limited to the Serif and Sans Serif typefaces and must be created in HTML as opposed to a graphic image of your text, which can be seen by search engines. 

Serif fonts are most appropriately used in print media.  Serif fonts are the typefaces with an additional “line” on the end of the letters.  Sans serif fonts are the more streamlined fonts that do not have serifs.  Sans Serif fonts are best used on web pages and in online media that is not intended for printing.  The most popular of these font categories are listed in the table below:

You will notice that each typeface looks unique among the other fonts and each typeface has an ideal situation in which to be used.  The font you choose should create an aesthetic harmony between your content and your format, producing a visually effective display of your words.  Remember, before an eye reads the page, it sees the page.  A “scripty serif” font is likely not the best choice for your attorney biography because the words will look flowery and fluffy, but that same font works extremely well in a romance novel. 

Keep in mind while preparing your content for your Custom WebExpress website and selecting a font that you are describing a law firm and your font should be appropriate to your profession.  You should strongly consider the default typefaces as recommended on your website.  The designers of Custom WebExpress websites carefully choose default typefaces that “match” the look of the page design they have constructed.  Simply stated, it is likely be the best choice for that page.  Just because it is “default” does not mean that no thought was used in its selection, and just because you can change it doesn’t mean you should change it.

Also, please keep in mind that the larger your font, the more likely it is that your reader will feel like you are “coming on too strong.”  You do not need to post in 24pt. font simply because you can.  Stick to the more conventional 10 or 12pt. font, and your online readers will thank you.

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