How to Choose Fonts for Your Website

The right fonts add personality and visual hierarchy to your website, which connect with your target audience and define your brand personality. It’s more than just a design choice; the right font is a powerful element that makes a site more inspiring and functional. 

You can find the right fonts for your website by learning a few fundamental principles about fonts, empowering you to make informed decisions and create a visually stunning and user-friendly website.

Types of fonts

The right font can make all the difference, setting the perfect tone when someone visits your website. Fonts come in different types of font families, called typefaces. Here are three primary typeface styles to consider.

1. Serif

Ever noticed those little flourishes at the ends of letters in some fonts? Those are called serifs. Think of them as tiny decorative touches that add a bit of personality and elegance.

For example, a plain capital “A” becomes a serif font when you give it feet. Traditionally, serif typefaces are referred to as “Roman.” Some key features of serif fonts include:

• Authority: Serif typeface works best for websites that need to convey a high level of professionalism, expertise, and authority.

• Serious personality: These font families are ideal for law firms, health clinics, consultants, financial brokers, business services, and more. 

• Content-friendly: They’re also great for websites with lots of content, like blogs.

• Classic style: Serif fonts will give your website a more classic and elegant look.

2. Sans serif

The word “sans” is French for “without,” so sans serif refers to fonts without those extra line strokes—in other words, without the serifs. Our blog website uses a sans serif font, for example. Sans serif fonts have a few common attributes.

• Modern style: Sans serif typeface is best for sites that focus on being friendly and approachable or that want to convey a sense of being modern, innovative, and straightforward.

• Creative and open: These font families are great for artist’s galleries, technical services, care providers, home services, educational organizations, and bloggers. 

• Approachable tone: Sans serif fonts will give your website a casual feel, making visitors feel welcome and confident and making navigation simple.

3. Script

The typeface known as script is a great option to personalize your site with the look of natural handwriting. 

Script typefaces might not be the best choice for long paragraphs, but they add a beautiful touch to headlines. A few common applications for script fonts include:

• Emphasis: Script typeface adds a special touch and draws attention to key text. 

• Elegant style: It can accentuate elements in travel, wedding, hospitality, holistic wellness, and culinary websites.

• Whimsical and delicate: Script fonts add a dreamy factor to any site, tapping directly into visitors' emotions.

Learn how to add a script font for emphasis with simple code

Styling your font selection

Choosing the right fonts involves more than just picking the right typeface. You’ll also want to consider font weights, font size, letter spacing, and styles. 

These help users understand your message by creating visual hierarchy and order. If text is larger, bolder, or in a different color or text, for example, it’s more likely to draw the eye and therefore sits higher in a page’s visual hierarchy. 

Learn how to style fonts on Squarespace

Font weights

Font weight refers to how thick or thin the letters appear. These values range from thin (100) to extra bold (900). Generally, headline font weights are usually between 500 to 900 and paragraph font weights are typically 400.

Font size

Font sizes impact what text draws attention on a web page and how readable your copy is.

Aim for a font size between 14 to 19 pixels. This offers the best reading experience. Also, set your Paragraph 2 font size to 1 rem. All other font sizes are extrapolated from this base size. “Rem” is just a special unit that helps your text size automatically adjust on different screens.

Squarespace automatically scales your font sizes, ensuring important elements like headings stand out.  It also handles matching sizes natively, but it's worth keeping in mind as you customize your site.

Letter spacing

Adjusting the space between letters can improve readability, especially for headings or large blocks of text. For headlines and buttons, you can even try slightly negative letter spacing (up to -0.06). Just remember to prioritize readability and scannability, which we’ll talk about more in a moment.

Font styles

Use italics, bold, or underlining sparingly to emphasize specific words or phrases. For example, you might use an underline to emphasize the word “new” for a new online course you’re offering, or to highlight an important project you just added to your homepage. Overusing these styles can make your text look cluttered and difficult to read.

Accessibility considerations

Let's not forget about making sure your fonts are easy for everyone to read. Here are some key accessibility considerations to keep in mind.

• Contrast: Make sure there's enough difference between your text color and your background color. If the contrast is too low, it’ll be difficult to read. 

• Readability: Your fonts should be easy to read on any screen size. Simpler and well-sized fonts help ensure visitors can read your content.

In summary:

• Keep base font size between 14 to 19px.

• Keep Paragraph 2 at 1 REM.

• Use a headings font weight of 500 to 900, ideally 600.

• For body text font weight, start with 400, letter spacing 0, and a line height around 1.4 to 1.9.

These settings optimize your pages for legibility, which is crucial for building your audience because visitors are more likely to engage with quality content when it's easy to read.

Choosing your fonts: Factors to consider

Now that you have a feel for serif versus sans serif, and a better grasp of font weights, sizes, and styles, it’s time to look at the big picture. What factors should you consider when choosing your fonts?

Brand identity

Your fonts should reflect your brand's personality and values. Are you playful and modern or classic and sophisticated? Let your fonts tell that story.

For example, a modern HIIT training studio with a powerful personality and tone may want to use sans serif typefaces with a heavy weight. In comparison, a massage therapist might choose a serif or sans serif font with a light weight, to communicate the same airy and peaceful vibe of their business.

Legibility

Ultimately, the best fonts for your website are the ones that are easy on the eyes. If visitors have to squint to read your content, or if the font is just too fancy, they're likely to click away.

Keep visitors engaged by making it easy for them to read and recognize individual letters and words. Instead of going for something you think will make a statement, prioritize highly legible fonts, especially for your body text. 

If you’re trying to decide between two fonts, try each on a sample page you’re building and ask yourself, “How easy is it to read the text?” The one that’s easiest to read is the one to choose. 

Font pairing

Pair fonts together to create a visually appealing and cohesive design. For instance, a bold sans serif typeface with a serif typeface can be elegant and modern.

Always maintain consistency, balance, and good top-to-bottom flow when you pair fonts together on a page. 

Squarespace's built-in font pairings are a great starting point to help you choose a pairing that fits your brand identity and goals. They offer professionally curated combinations that are sure to look polished and professional. 

Scannability

People don’t usually read everything that’s on a page. They scan it, looking for key information. If they find it, then they may go back and read the text more thoroughly. 

Use a font that makes it easy for people to skim your page to find what they need. Use clear headings, subheadings, and bullet points to improve your page’s scannability. 

Size on different devices

Your font may look great on a desktop, but does it pass the test on mobile devices? Your fonts need to scale appropriately and remain readable on smaller screens. Make sure to preview your website on tablets and mobile devices, but also on large screens like desktop monitors.

See more tips for choosing design features for your site

Find your perfect font

Squarespace offers a wide range of fonts to help you create the perfect look for your website. The site styles menu is your gateway to a world of beautiful fonts. Experiment and discover the ones that bring your website's vision to life. 

To help you get started, we've selected a few favorites that add a modern and engaging touch to your website.

Sans serif

• Nunito Sans

• Manrope

• Dela Gothic One

• Work Sans

• Inter

• DM Sans

• Poppins 

• Fairwater Sans

Serif

• Young Serif

• Baskerville Display PT

• Fino

• Dapifer

• Linotype Didot

• Sirenne Eighteen MVB

• Playfair Display

• Ohno Fatface

You can explore script and “hidden gem” fonts by clicking on any text on a Squarespace website, then selecting Family and Browse All Fonts. 

Script

• Imperial Script

• Scriptorama Markdown JF

• Luxurious Script

• Livermore Script ATF Rough No. 1

• Sketchnote Text

Hidden gems

• Outfit 

• Arboria

• DM Sans 

• Ambroise Std Francois 

• Alverata

• Arno Pro Display

• Cabin condensed

• Lexia Advertising

• Worthington Arcade

• Worker

• Space Grotesk

• Runda

• Sora

• Objective Mk2

Choosing the right fonts for your website is all about finding that perfect balance between expressing your brand's personality and ensuring your visitors have a great experience. 

Explore combinations to find the perfect match for your website. With the right fonts, your website will not only look stunning, but it'll also leave a lasting impression.