Design Analysis: The 12 Easiest Fonts to Read. How important is it to choose the right font for your website? If you use a legible font, your company’s message will come across loud and clear to readers. The font you choose will be a key component in your website design, as it will immediately convey your brand identity to all who visit it… and what could be more important than that?
However, with so many fonts to choose from, the selection process can be overwhelming, so start here and discover 12 easy-to-read font options you can use on your small business website (and beyond).
- Georgia
- Helvetica
- PT Sans & PT Serif
- Open Sans
- Quicksand
- Verdana
- Rooney
- Karla
- Roboto
- Ubuntu
- Side
- Future
Georgia
The main thing you should know about Georgia. Here’s what it looks like: it’s a serif font, meaning each letter includes a small, decorative stroke; the alternative, called sans-serif, is simpler and more streamlined. While serif fonts have that extra detail, they can be a good choice for websites. Georgia was designed for Microsoft and created with low-resolution displays in mind, making it one of the easiest fonts to read on desktop and mobile devices.
Helvetica
Helvetica, along with Georgia, is considered one of the easiest fonts to read according to The Next Web. This is a sans-serif font and one of the most popular typefaces in the world: a modern classic.
PT Sans & PT Serif
Can’t decide between a serif or a sans-serif font? ParaType comes in both, so you can experiment and see the difference or use a combination of both. PT Sans and PT Serif. They work very well together.
Open Sans
What makes this popular font so easy to read? In part, it’s due to the amount of space (called “kerning”) between characters. According to Google, Open Sans. It is “optimized for print, web, and mobile interfaces, and has excellent legibility characteristics in its letterforms.”
Quicksand
Since many of your customers use smartphones and tablets to access online content, the font you choose should look good on small screens. Quicksand, a sans-serif font from Google, works well on mobile devices. It was created based on geometric shapes to give an impression of friendliness.
Verdana
Verdana Sans-serif is another go-to font for web design due to its legibility. Like Georgia, it was created specifically for computer screens. It’s a great choice if you have large blocks of text, as experts generally agree that sans-serif fonts are easier to read on the web.
Rooney
Part of your brand’s identity is its personality, and that personality should also be reflected in the font you choose. If your brand is lighthearted and you want a non-conventional approach, a custom font like Rooney It could be a perfect fit for you. In the words of this font’s designer, Jan Fromm, “the rounded shapes and soft curves” give the reader an “overall impression of warmth and softness.”
Karla
This sans-serif typeface is not at all overdone: Karla It’s clean and simple. Google describes it as “popular and quirky,” so it’s another good option for unique, fun-loving brands.
Roboto
Created by Google for its Android mobile operating system (and now also for Chrome), Roboto It’s presented as a slightly bolder typeface than others. Google defines it as “modern, yet accessible.” If this reminds you of your brand, give it a try.
Ubuntu
If you’re looking for something distinctly modern, try Ubuntu, which comes from a South African word meaning “humanity.” It’s a humanist-style typeface, meaning it references calligraphy and the way humans write by hand.
Side
After appointing Side As one of Google’s top 10 fonts for web pages, the art and design resource Creative Bloq He writes: “The semi-rounded details of the letters give Lato a sense of warmth, while the solid structure provides stability and seriousness.” Doesn’t it sound perfect for a company website?
Future
If there’s one more factor you should consider when choosing your font, it’s whether the tone of your website content is formal or informal. Future It’s one of those fonts that can be used for both purposes. The result is always crisp and clean, and if your goal is legibility, that counts a lot.