How to Choose the Perfect Font for Your WordPress Website

With over 3,060,000,000 active websites on the internet, how can you make your website stand out? Paying attention to every minute detail is the key, and choosing a readable font is one of the most important factors to consider.

Even if your WordPress website has an amazing design, a less-than-perfect font can be an eyesore. In this post, we are going to discuss how you can choose the most suitable font for your WordPress website.

The readability of your text largely depends on the font. The good news is there are plenty of fonts out there. Instead of using generic fonts, many companies use custom fonts for branding.

If you use a custom font, your visitors will mentally associate the font with your brand, and that’s a highly effective branding strategy. Experienced designers planning for the future design choose custom fonts.

When it comes to attracting your target audience, the correct choice of perfect font, color, and text size are vital. But how can you choose the perfect typeface? What factors should be taken into consideration? Well, before going any further, let’s start with the very basics.

Serif or Sans Serif?

While there are countless fonts, they are categorized into two primary types: Serif and Sans Serif. Serif fonts are characterized by a decorative stroke. Some Serif typefaces are widely used and highly trusted.

They include Times New Roman, Baskerville, and Georgia. These typefaces are popular in part because of their great readability.

On the other hand, Sans Serif Typefaces are characterized by a clean design. They are clean and modern, and without strokes on letters. Examples of these fonts include Helvetica, Arial, and Futura.

Your target audience is an important factor that should be taken into consideration. Serif typefaces create an elegant and formal tone. With that said, to create an alternative look, these typefaces are often used in fashion magazines.

If you are looking for a simple and minimal typeface, Sans Serif should be your choice. A Sans Serif typeface can also be mixed up with another typeface to create a different look. Most websites these days opt for Sans Serif typefaces.

Choose a perfect font that conveys the right message

Choose the font that displays the emotion or message that you want to convey. Make sure your textual styles are in line with your other visual markings.

The typeface should match your site’s branding. Ideally, you should visit many websites to find web design ideas, and notice how different typefaces create particular impressions.

If your website’s niche is entertainment or fashion, you should probably choose a Serif typeface. But if the niche is technology or education, you should choose something more formal. In short, your typeface should convey the tone of your niche.

When it comes to making a choice, your WordPress website’s main theme is also a major determining factor. It also depends on your personal taste. Every website has a particular tone or style, and the typeface should compliment it.

Combine fonts

The perfect font for your header, content, and sidebar simply may not be out there. If this is the case, you can combine different typefaces to find the best contrast. For instance, a blunt typeface may be a good choice for the headlines, and a neutral typeface may be a good choice for body text.

Design trends come and go, but the main purpose of combining fonts remains the same: to create the desired contrast. So, make sure the combinations result in bold contrasts.

Brandon Grotesque and Museo Sans, Gotham and Archer, and Museo Sans and Playfair Display are some typefaces that pair pretty well.

When you pair them, consistency is key. Consider combining two different typefaces, and try not to go beyond that.

Pay attention to kerning, leading, and tracking

Making a good choice is a lot easier if you know the basics of typography. These are the elements that determine the appearance of typefaces. In order to ensure readable and visually pleasing texts, these are the methods that website designers apply.

The space between letters is referred to as kerning, the space between lines is called leading, and the space between groups of letters is known as tracking. Pay close attention to these and see if they look smooth and elegant.

Contrast is important

Contrast is used to highlight parts of the texts. It can be achieved in a number of ways: through size, spacing, weight, style, and color.

You can use it to make parts of the texts appear bold or easily noticeable, and create a web design that stands out. Contrast can also be achieved by mixing different typefaces—a process known as pairing.

Experimenting and customization

It is possible to enhance readability by tweaking font styles. And you can do lots of fun things with typefaces: bolding, italicizing, sizing, and coloring.

While personal taste is an important factor for choosing a typeface, it is not a very good idea to rely entirely on how you feel about a style. In other words, do not choose one simply because you love it.

When you use WordPress, you have three ways to update a font: using code, installing a plugin, and setting a theme. If you want to use code, knowledge of CSS is a must. You can also use external fonts, including handwritten ones. Learning about current font trends can be helpful.

With that said, it is important to note here that over saturating the design with different types of fonts is not good. Even if you use multiple typefaces, your website should look clean and uncluttered.

Final thoughts
In order to choose the right font for a website, you must be familiar with WordPress fonts, and sometimes you may need to play with them. Your choice should be determined by the purpose of the website.

For a designer, stumbling upon the right typeface is an amazing experience. It all comes down to figuring out which fonts convey the particular message and meaning.