Importance of Selecting the Right Font
To enhance your business brand you need to choose a typeface (since about 1989 referred to as a font) that compliments what your business stands for. You also want to design your advertising, marketing, and public relations with the same fonts as on your website for a consistent look and feel that will help establish your identity.
Most web designers use san serif styles for their easier-to-read clarity (as opposed to serif styles like Times which read better on printed material). You will also likely want to use the free variety especially if you are a small business and want to conserve your cash.
Where to Find Free Fonts
Popular with designers is www.dafont.com. There are thousands of free fonts available in just about every category imaginable. Another popular source is Font Squirrel which offers qulity freeware fonts that are licensed for commercial work.
You can find a wide range of fonts at Google Fonts including Roboto (excellent for numerals), Open Sans (preferred by most designers for easy-to-read text), and Lato (good for headers and numerals). All three are commonly used together in websites, and they offer more than just no cost varieties of fonts.
Font Pair is a great resource to help you pair Google fonts together. The website displays popular font pairings and allows you to download the fonts.
Advantages of Using Google Fonts
A good built-in advantage of choosing Google fonts is that they are free to use, there are no cross-platform issues, and they upload quickly (sites with fast loading fonts are preferred for search engines like Google).
The appearance of an entire website can be difficult to read by distorted text caused by different rendering systems in different browsers, operating systems, and mobile devices (cross-platform rendering) causing font render errors on some devices. With Google fonts, this is not a problem.
There are also no licensing issues with Google fonts, and they can be used in print as well as electronic media with no substitution issues, such as a font of choice being substituted with something else, which has been a common obstacle with programs such as Photoshop, which relies on Adobe fonts for substitutions and may be difficult to read.
Disadvantages of Using Google Fonts
There isn’t much of a disadvantage to using Google fonts other than that the fonts are so commonly used on the internet that it may be a bit more difficult to have a website that is unique looking for the brand identity.
If a unique appearance is desired, a user may opt for purchasing the fonts wanted such as those found at Adobe Fonts or Creative Market. There can also be a yearly service fee for fonts that cannot be downloaded to the desktop but used through the Internet. Note that the site will require extra work if the font subscription lapses and another font is then used.
Final Thoughts: Best Free Fonts for Awesome Websites
Many web designers discover that some WordPress themes don’t allow premium fonts without a plugin installed on their website, which can mean additional compatibility issues with the rest of the site.
Talk with your web designer for a thorough examination of desired fonts to ensure flawless operation.