Choosing the ideal typeface for your website can have a significant impact. Fonts not only influence how easily readers can understand your text, but they can also have a powerful psychological effect on readers.
Picking the right fonts is essential in creating a fantastic user experience, brand communication, and finalizing your website design.
So, what are the best fonts for websites? Well, that depends on your situation.
This article will provide helpful advice to assist you in selecting the ideal typefaces for your brand (this can be seen across these best colorful website designs).
Stick around to find a list where we'll go through all the best fonts for websites. But first, we'll explain how your font choice affects your website design.
Table of Contents
Why Is the Font Choice So Important?
Searching for “the best fonts for websites” online won’t help you understand the perfect typeface for your organization.
The fonts on one website may often take up most of the site’s design. Therefore, the success of your site depends on picking the best web fonts for you, particularly ones that reflect and suit your line of business and brand positioning. And here’s why:
1. Your Brand Character Is Reflected in Your Font Selection
The majority of marketers are aware of their brand's message. However, your chosen font must reflect and convey your company's personality.
For instance, a romantic typeface like calligraphy or a whimsical meme won't accurately represent your business if you run a professional charity organization.
Similarly, if your font needs to represent a bank, fun typefaces won't help you gain readers' trust, and they might not take your business seriously. As a result, choosing a font for your brand also requires knowing your target audience or market well.
2. Readability and Usability
These problems are linked together. Readers frequently have to lean close to the screen to read the content. This is a sign of poor user experience. Potential clients could be deterred by the font that's too small. Similarly, using large fonts is not a good idea because they "shout" at the reader and are distracting and overly aggressive.
Also, stuffing too many fonts on your website is confusing and unprofessional, especially if they are on the same page.
Using no more than two or three typefaces is recommended to guarantee consistency and clarity across your site. Fonts have an impact on the user experience as well as interests, navigation speed, and many other factors.
3. Business Expansion
UX and commercial potential go hand in hand. New visitors might stay longer than expected if they feel comfortable reading the content on your website.
Websites that offer browsers exciting content written in a dependable, high-quality font attract and hold readers' attention. Doing this may strengthen customer confidence, boost your competitive advantage, and increase sales and profits.
Fonts are vital for your brand or business because you want them to promote good feelings, make the content easier to read and eventually increase revenue.
Understanding Your Options: Types of Fonts
Fonts can be divided into various sorts and categories, and each has a specific use depending on your brand. While some typefaces are more elaborate and distinctive, others are plain and adaptable.
While some font families work best in a lengthy paragraph of text, others are better suited for a bold, attention-grabbing header. Here are your options:
1. Sans Serif Fonts
These are fonts without markings at the end of letters.
Sans serif typefaces typically have a straightforward design, making them adaptable in terms of usage and location. They work effectively in header content or the page's body. They can also tame a website design that otherwise stands out.
Sans serif is your go-to typeface if you want to offer your text a simple, clean appearance and encourage readers to read the entire page.
2. Serif Fonts
Like the sans serif fonts, the serif typefaces are also known for their predictable and solid structure, but serif fonts have markings at the ends of the letters.
Because serifs have a long history in typography, their style tends to feel more conventional and upscale than other fonts. Serifs can be used in a web page's body text or header content, depending on the situation.
Accessibility is another reason that will make you choose a serif font over others. Letters that occasionally resemble one another (such as the capital "I," lowercase "l," and number "1") are easily identifiable thanks to serifs' top- and bottom-marking features.
3. Cursive or Script Fonts
The initial purpose of the centuries-old handwriting form known as cursive was to make manual writing faster and more aesthetically pleasing. But today, cursive (or script) has evolved into a distinctive online font type that resembles handwriting.
Cursive is the typeface to use if you want your website's title and logo to have an eye-catching and distinctive twist. Cursive logo fonts can be seen in several well-known companies, including Vimeo, Ray-Ban, and Kellogg's. However, provided that newer generations are no longer compelled to master cursive writing, it might not be the best option for bigger chunks of text.
4. Vintage Fonts
It usually feels like the old trends live their second life after once being outdated, so it's not surprising to find outdated typefaces like retro or vintage fonts on websites.
Due to nostalgia, retro fashion is always in style. Customers are more likely to experience a strong emotional connection to what they're reading when font conjures up memories of the "good old days."
And it's due to this connection people make to the past, even though it's not immediately apparent, that vintage fonts remain relevant.
5. Number Fonts
Numbers should be displayed on the web with the same level of care and concern as letters. Finding the right font for numbers, though, can be a challenge.
Numbers are frequently used for data visualization, such as in pricing tables, infographics, or exclusive offers on landing sites. The effectiveness of your website can be significantly impacted by how you provide this information.
For instance, the numbers should use tabular lining figures when presented in tables or calculations. This means that each figure must have the same width and height for the numbers to properly align next to and on top of one another.
6. Outline Fonts
Even though the sans serif and serif fonts are often considered the best webfonts, they sometimes don't do the trick.
What can you do if the more conventional serifs and sans serifs don't fit the distinctive style of your company? In fact, cursive fonts don't do your brand justice, either.
In that situation, consider employing outline fonts.
It would be best if you only used outlined fonts in larger headers or smaller blocks of content because they considerably reduce text legibility (as you've virtually removed the letters' internal structure).
But it's okay. Outline typefaces will undoubtedly do the trick when you need to draw a visitor's attention with brief, snappy headers.
7. Modern Fonts
Although it's simple to refer to any typeface that is now fashionable as "modern," that isn't what we mean.
Modern fonts are known for being constructed using basic geometric shapes and patterns. At their core, they're always as minimalistic as possible. The function of the modern font always precedes its form.
Modern fonts are geometric designs with a touch of futuristic flair. Although they are simple to read, they nevertheless include a specific delight.
What’s the Best Font for Your Brand's Web Design?
Awareness of the distinction between print and digital media is essential. While some fonts work great on print (like these print designs with bold fonts), they might look awful on your website or app.
So, if you’re wondering what the best fonts for websites are, here are some safe choices:
1. Arial
The uncrowned king of web typography. If you’re looking for the safest and most common font used across the internet, Arial is the one for you. This sans serif typeface is ubiquitous for a reason – practicality.
While it’s not as visually stunning as others you’ll encounter on this list, Arial is undoubtedly one of the best web fonts from a readability viewpoint.
From startups and small community websites to business giants like Facebook, Amazon and Google, Arial has its place in web design.
2. Roboto
This font was designed explicitly for on-screen use, known best for the balance between content density and reading comfort. Roboto is a web-friendly font that performs well on modern and older browser versions, maintaining consistent quality in the text display.
Roboto was initially designed by Google as an Android system font, but now it can be seen on YouTube and all the other Google apps and websites, and it remains one of the best web fonts for tech providers.
3. Hillenberg
Hillenberg is one of the best website fonts if you want to go vintage. With as many as 10 styles, this font family can help convey a wild-west theme or provide a classy vibe to your whiskey distillery website design. You can also use it for a humoristic twist for a less serious website.
Its rustic appearance can tell many tales, making it one of the best body font for websites with Old West and similar retro aesthetics.
4. Open Sans
If there’s a font superstar in the modern web design era, it has to be Open Sans.
This Google font was designed by Steve Matteson, who gave it a minimalistic flare that suits small paragraphs perfectly. You have a wide range of options, from light to extra-bold, with as many as 13 styles.
It’s a highly readable, neutral sans-serif font that is an excellent option for companies that want to present their content with a focus on readability, like accountants or law firms.
5. Georgia
This Roman serif typeface was designed by Matthew Carter to help Microsoft in the 90s. While this font is similar to Times New Roman, Georgia is much larger.
And although it’s a high-quality option for books and other printed media, its spot in the web design is primarily reserved for headlines. Its style and visual appeal will most certainly attract the attention of the browsers when contrasted with a less prominent typeface below it.
Georgia might be one of the best options for dark-themed website designs.
6. Montserrat
If you’re looking for a sans-serif typeface that scales well, you should consider going with Montserrat. This geometric font can be incorporated into the paragraph text or the footer of your website.
Youthful and bold, this Google font was based on the signage found in the Montserrat neighborhood in Buenos Aires. Its charming, unique and prominent history justifies this font's liveliness and aesthetic appeal and offers more than decent readability.
It’s worth mentioning that it’s one of the most versatile fonts on this list – Montserrat has 36 styles to choose from!
7. Merriweather
Another great representative of serif typography in web design is Merriweather. Its heaviness doesn’t affect its delicacy and sophistication that any serious brand can profit off.
Online course-based websites like Coursera and Goodreads rely on this font for its impeccable readability.
Despite primarily being known as a reliable serif, it also has a sans-serif counterpart that allows you to combine these two without wasting time looking for suitable companions.
Time To Choose the Best One for You
Now that you are familiar with typography choosing the typefaces and fonts that work best for your web design is up to you. To ensure the fonts you have in mind are compatible with your brand identity and goals, consider your brand before making a random font selection.
We've offered some good fonts for websites, but the possible combinations you can make to give the right style that reflects your brand are endless.
