Fonts can be an important part of your site’s look. So what can you do to select the right blog typeface for your site’s look?
Typefaces always fascinate me. I’m enough of a font nerd that I enjoy browsing sites like MyFonts, DaFont and Google Fonts to look at different typefaces. Sometimes, one will jump out at me enough that I’ll consider using it here. Over 20 years, I’ve changed typefaces several times here at Patrick’s Place. But how do you really find the right blog typeface?
I really wish I could point to one simple answer.
But I think there are multiple answers that you have to come up with and compare to make the decision.
1. Which typefaces do websites you visit regularly use?
If it’s a site you visit regularly, I’m going to assume it’s a site whose content you consider to be valuable. And if you visit it regularly, I also have to assume that the typefaces it uses are at least readable enough as to not discourage you from returning.
Let’s face it: Very few people seem to like a typeface like Comic Sans. If you hate that font, you’re probably not going to visit a site all that often if that’s the main font it uses.
A good while back — actually it was about a decade ago — I visited 20 popular news sites to see which fonts they used. Without looking, I’m going to assume that most have changed at least some of their typefaces, even if they didn’t change from serif to sans serif typefaces (or vice versa).
If you use a font finder extension like this one, you can actually see the names of the typefaces. Since many professional sites license paid fonts — and occasionally commission custom fonts — you may have to do a web search to find similar fonts. But you’ll at least have some working names of typefaces you like.
2. Does the typeface have the flexibility you need?
You can make choosing the right typeface as simple or as complicated as you want. You can get bogged down into things like comparing a typeface’s weight or width, for example.
But it is important to check on a few things.
First, is the typeface “variable” or does it at least have a few weights and alternate options like italics? It’s always better to choose a font that has a separate italic variation rather than leaving it to the platform to just “slant” a non-italic version. If you decide you want to have the headline and body text rendered in the same typeface, is there a thicker, heavier version available for headlines? Or is everything going to be the same weight?
Second, does the font have special characters? There might be occasions when you’d need special characters, for example, the letter Ñ that appears in words like señor or a copyright symbol, ©. Some fonts have all of those characters. Others do not. You’re safer choosing a font that has those characters.
Third, are there elements of the typeface that you don’t care for all that much? Some typefaces handle numbers differently, for example. Some drop numbers below the baseline while others do not. Is that a dealbreaker for you? If so, you’ll want to make sure you sample the font’s numerals as well as letters. Personally, I like the way the headline font I’m currently using renders the lowercase L. It adds a little curve to the right at the bottom of the letter so that it doesn’t look like a capital I. To me, it increases readability
If it’s a typeface that you’ll use on your site for potentially a long time, you want to make sure it can do what you need it to do without doing what you wish it wouldn’t.
3. Who is your audience going to be?
Once you know which typefaces you like, now you have to think about your audience. Some websites have a much more narrow audience than others.
For example, a site focused solely on gaming will likely attract a younger audience. What type of fonts might be appropriate for that audience? Visit some gaming websites and see what they’re using. Add those typefaces to your list.
A site focused more on long-term investments and retirement planning might attract an older audience. Visit retirement planning, benefits and investment sites. Make note of those typefaces.
A cooking blog might attract a wider range of visitors. Visit some cooking or recipe blogs to check out their typeface choices.
I think it’s important to know what your target audience might already be used to in terms of typefaces they already encounter. If there are certain typefaces on that list that you hate, cross them off the list. But if there are typefaces that you like that you think the audience may already be used to seeing, that might be one worth considering.
4. What is your website’s personality going to be?
There are plenty of sites that cover the same material. But those different sites each have their own personality. Some are far more buttoned-down and serious. Others are more playful and comic.
A site that’s more serious will likely want a more traditional website — serif or sans serif — that you might find in newspaper sites or reference sites. But a site that’s more serious might be able to get away with more “decorative” or “display” typefaces. Fonts that look like handwriting or that have flourishes might work better on sites with a more playful personality.
Some fonts are designed to resemble fonts you’ve seen in popular culture. There are multiple fonts designed to resemble those used on the various Star Trek shows over the years. If your topic is science fiction or technology, a font like that — at least for a logo or headlines — might be worth considering.
5. How readable is the font going to be in various sizes?
But let’s say you’re building a website about technology. You decide to use a font like the one used in the titles of the original Star Trek series. Bitstream has a version they call Horizon.
Maybe it might work for headlines — if you don’t mind such a distinctive typeface automatically making people think specifically of Star Trek, not technology itself. But would you really want that typeface used as body text? Wouldn’t that get old pretty quickly?
A popular typeface for an “institutional” look is Bank Gothic. Same problem: It might look nice and professional for logos or headlines. But can you imagine trying to read a paragraph rendered in that typeface?
You also need to know going in as you narrow down the typefaces you like that the fonts are available in multiple sizes. Ideally, you’ll find fonts that are fully scalable, meaning they are crisp and clear no matter how big or small they appear.
Fonts that begin to look pixelated because of a lack of scalability will look horrible on any website.
6. How available (and affordable) is the typeface you want to use?
Like many sites today, this one uses Google Fonts, a free service that offers a wide variety of typeface options. Most blogging platforms offer a limited number of basic fonts to choose from. Google Fonts expands that dramatically.
Google Fonts’ websites are free to use if your site has the proper setup to display them. But not all of the fonts listed on Google Fonts are automatically available on a site that’s using Google Fonts’ plugin.
There are plenty of fonts that aren’t yet available on Google Fonts. One of my favorite typefaces for screens is called Gotham. But to use it on a website, you’d have to license it separately and, depending on the license, you might have to pay different amounts based on your site’s traffic. As much as I like the typeface for its readability, no matter what size, the pay structure for its use is a bit too complicated.
And I’d prefer to use a free option regardless.
If the font you’d really like isn’t — for one reason or another — available, you can usually find similar fonts through a web search. They’ll help you locate a typeface that gets you a similar feel.
These steps should get you started when it comes to selecting typefaces that will be a good match for your content, your personality and your readers!
