Quality web design should always be impactful. When potential clients/customers are welcomed by pages that look great and are packed full of informative content, they’ll learn all they need to know about your brand and sign up, make a purchase, or file your company name away for when the time is right.
Typography is an essential part of web design, almost as important as the content itself. But this is something often overlooked, even by other web designers, despite it being something no business should neglect.
Today we’re going to talk about the best typography for websites and what changes you can make to ensure your content stands out.
What is Typography?
Typography in web design includes the fonts, spacing, and overall structure of the copy on your website. Some people assume typography only refers to fonts, but when designing a website it refers to more features that are just as important to optimise.
Getting typography right isn’t as simple as it may seem. A font that looks good to you may be hard to read for others, especially if your website isn’t optimised for mobile use. Accessibility is a major factor; one we’ll discuss in more detail soon.
Your web design needs to complement your brand. If the structure is too formal or informal, it may contradict the message you present to visitors. It may seem like a minor thing, but people do notice, even if it’s subliminal.
There have been multiple studies that show the correlation between typography and how this can affect the visitors mood and willingness to engage with the site. Fonts and typography have the same effect as imagery in terms of influence, but unlike images whereby everybody is able to articulate why they like or don’t like an image or colour, typography is often overlooked and misunderstood. A font (typeface) can appear formal, informal, fun, aggressive, authoritative, or frivolous and without you being aware of it, you could have turned your audience off.
A pleasing font that is well-presented is far more engaging than one that looks like one straight out of a university textbook, even if the content itself is identical.
Typography and Page Structure
Alongside banner ads, images, and embedded videography, your content takes up a lot of space on a page. It’s the centrepiece, providing crucial information about your business as well as your products and services. The content can be purely sales-focused, such as descriptions under each product, or more informative such as in long-form blogs or articles.
If you have long paragraphs of bunched-together text, you ruin the readability of the page. By considering the font, weight, line length, and paragraphing effectively, you’ll ensure your content is skim-friendly and won’t ever put people off.
Although time on page is an important aspect of SEO – the longer visitors remain on each page, the better – you don’t want poor typography to be the reason. In fact if it is difficult to read, either due to the structure, typeface, or the content itself, people are more likely to click away than continue.
But how much content should you have on each web page? This is a tricky question. As a rule 800-1000 words per page is optimal but not essential. If your website is image-heavy, for example if you’re a photographer whose work needs to be the focus, content can be more concise. However you should always include as much well-structured content as possible, just make sure that it is relevant and not repetitive
When you do have a lot of content to provide, your typography choices are vital. Spacing is one of these choices, and there’s no doubting its effectiveness when you read content that is properly spaced:
Content like this takes effort to read. On a small screen it might even be impossible, regardless of the font.
Whereas content that utilises generous spacing is much easier to read. Your eyes can skim it quickly without missing a word. At the same time the spacing between lines needs to enable the eye breathing space. If the line spacing is too tight or too long, the reader will find themselves reading the same line twice.
The Best Fonts for Websites
This is something that will always be hotly debated among web designers and copywriters. We all have our favourite fonts but there are many that could suit your website.
There are two main types of font used on websites. Serif fonts have a small additional flourish attached to the majority of letters. Here’s an example of serif:
Playfair Display is one of the most popular serif fonts. Note the additional flourish and curls on the ‘f’ and ‘y’s. In the past Times New Roman, which is still the default in some programs, and Georgia, were also popular, and still see some use in web design today.
Serif fonts are often seen as more traditional and formal, but their extra flair makes them ideal for many creative enterprises too.
On the other hand, sans-serif (literally meaning ‘without serif’) are much more popular overall. For example, the text you’re reading right now is in URW Heisei Gothic Regular, our personal favourite sans-serif font.
Sans-serif is the ideal choice for almost all websites because they’re clearer to read than serif if they’re at a similar size. Although the differences are minor, when each letter and symbol is free from embellishment and all a similar size, even people with sight or reading comprehension issues can read it with ease. That said, by combining the serif for headlines and sans serif for the body copy, this can make a more interesting page. Also using italic serif fonts for customer quotes can provide a feeling of a more handwritten quote.
Typography and Accessibility
As important as optimising the ‘look’ of your typography is, accessibility should always be the primary focus.
Simply making your text clear isn’t always enough to make it accessible. In the UK there are over 2 million people with visual impairments. Many of these people use assistive technology such as screen readers when navigating the internet. If the content on your website isn’t compatible with this technology, it doesn’t matter what font or spacing choices you make.
Thankfully, it’s easier than ever to test your website for accessibility. When we build a website from scratch or optimise your existing site, this is something we always do to ensure you aren’t alienating any potential clients or customers.
Designing Websites with Typography in Mind
Typography is a core facet of web design, but it’s also fluid. We pride ourselves on modern web design, where every page is cutting edge and packed with the latest tools and features. Typography has trends that we follow closely, so our suggestions for fonts and structures is always based on the latest innovations.
Typography goes hand in hand with branding so it’s logical to work with branding experts when it’s time to redesign your website, or if you want a brand new one built from scratch to reinvigorate your brand.
If you have any questions about our marketing services, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.