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A Beginner’s Guide to Website Typography

Have you ever seen a website that just looked so well put together? Maybe it had a certain je ne sais quoi factor that you just couldn’t put your finger on. Sure, the design was nice, and the colors matched, and their copy was great, but one factor just seemed to drive the site home for you.

Usually, that’s the website typography. Great, consistent typography will make or break your website. It’s that silently powerful element that ties a site together and keeps visitors reading.

Want to learn how to choose the best stylized fonts for your site, and how to download a font? Keep reading for our beginner’s fonts guide!

A Lesson in Lingo

Before you get started on your journey of choosing your website’s typography, you should take a minute to learn the lingo. This’ll help you navigate all the fonts out there to narrow them down.

Serif fonts are the OG typography. The first font ever created, called Blackletter, is a serif font. Serif fonts have little lines at the ends of the letters and are best for bodies of text. Sans-serif fonts ditch the lines to create modern, bold fonts that are best for titles, quotes, and headers.

Cursive is a group of stylized fonts that don’t adhere to serif or sans-serif design. Cursive fonts most closely emulate handwriting, and there are thousands upon thousands of variations out there.

Monospace fonts are ones where every letter has an equal amount of spacing in between them. This type of font originated with typewriters, but now contains both serif and sans-serif fonts. Monospace fonts are great for clean, modern, and simple design.

Last but not least is fantasy fonts. Fantasy fonts aren’t concerned with being easily readable or intended for a specific use. They’re designed artfully, with a focus on the actual letter design. The Disney font and that spooky, dripping blood font that you see around Halloween are great examples of fantasy fonts.

Choosing Your Typography

When it comes to choosing your own website’s typography, it’s essential that you stay consistent. You should choose one or two serif fonts for the body of your site’s copy, and one or two sans-serif fonts for titles and headers.

It’s tempting to mix it up with so much beautiful typography out there, but you should try to reign yourself in. If you really want to mix it up, make sure you do it right.

How to Download a Font

While some insist that the best fonts on the internet are paid, there are tons of great fonts out there that you can get for absolutely free. Here are some of the best websites for downloading free fonts:

  • dafont.com
  • 1001freefonts.com
  • fontspace.com
  • urbanfonts.com
  • free-fonts-download.com

Once you find your dream font, simply download it to your computer and unzip the file. Find the .otf or .ttf file, right-click, and click “Install Font.” Voila!

Your Website Typography and More

With these website typography tips, you should have gorgeous, matching typography that’s on-brand in no time!

Want more website inspiration? Check out our design inspiration posts to get those creative juice flowing!



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