The good news is that Google has made it easy to choose from a selection of fonts for your website — and they’re free! They are also “website friendly,” meaning they don’t cause any slowdown when someone visit’s your site.

The problem is, with so many fonts to choose from, how can someone decide what font is right for their brand?

There are a few things to keep in mind that can help …

Serif vs. San Serif Fonts

Serif fonts, like Times Roman, tend to have a more serious feel because of the extra strokes found at the end of the main vertical and horizontal strokes of some letters.

Sans serif fonts, like Helvetica or Arial (Microsoft’s ripoff of Helvetica) are more modern looking. They do NOT have the additional strokes, which makes them more approachable — some would even say more human.

So, a major decision to make is how you want to be perceived as an organization. And while a lawyer’s office or financial planner might want to use a serif font to add a certain gravitas, a hair salon or web design firm will most likely want to use a sans serif font to help them be perceived as modern and approachable.

Google Fonts

If this is your first exposure to even thinking about font style on your website, it may be a good idea to check out Google Fonts yourself. Again there are hundreds of free options to choose from, and they’re good fonts. Once you find one or two that you like, talk with your web design firm, and have them implement for you. The safest way to do this (so actual visitors are not seeing you testing out fonts) is to create a dev site where you can view font selections on your website. It’s VERY easy for a web designer to swap out a Google Font, so you can check out a few options and then implement into your live site once a decision has been made.

Helvetica (the documentary)

If you want to geek out a little more with fonts, I highly recommend Gary Hustwit’s documentary, Helvetica, which is a great exploration of the Helvetica type face, as well as a primer into the world of typography.

The Visual History of Type

If the film is not enough, or if reading is more your thing, then check out The Visual History of Type, by Paul McNeil. This book is also great for working out as it’s really heavy! It’s also a comprehensive, detailed survey of the major typefaces produced since the advent of printing with movable type in the mid-fifteenth century to the present day. And it’s truly beautiful …

When it comes to web design, fonts are only one part of the equation, but they’re an important one. Being deliberate about font you choose for your website can go a long way in helping clearly define your brand.

That said, which type is your type?

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post Web Design Tips: Figuring out Fonts appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

That said, if you’re creating a new website, or sprucing up your existing site, it’s a good idea to be deliberate about choosing your imagery to make sure your site is cohesive, engaging, and on-brand.

To get the ball rolling, I suggest creating a shot list for the entire website. This will give you and your team an opportunity to define exactly how many images you’ll need on each page, AND what kind of feeling you’d like each image to evoke.

In other words, what’s the overarching aesthetic theme or story of your website/brand?

Is it product centric, like you see here on the Field Notes website?

If so, you’ll need beautiful photography or art that really highlights the benefits of your product(s).

Of course, this is only one option. You may be in an industry where it’s important to connect with visitors with people-centric imagery, or some other solution that is alignment with your organization and its goals.

Regardless, a shot list can help you define exactly what type of imagery will adorn each page — and in doing so it helps clarify the image creation process. With a completed, well thought out shot list, you will be able to give your photographer or graphic artist a MUCH clearer idea of what you’re looking for.

For instance, one of our long-term clients is an organization called FLYY, which is an acronym for Forward Learning Youth & Young Adults. FLYY didn’t want their website to come across as just another mental health organization. Because of this, we decided to use original art created by our very own graphic designer, Hannah, that would be metaphorical in nature — alluding to flight, which of course is the purpose of using the acronym “FLYY” in the first place.

Here’s a screenshot of the homepage hero image:

It was the shot list that helped us clearly define, and understand, the direction we wanted to go with regarding website imagery.

Here’s a sample shot list that we created in Google Sheets. This is an important consideration, as Google Sheets allows all invested parties to contribute and make notes in the shot list — all in one central place.

In this example there are lots of notes to help clarify next steps in the process. In case you’re wondering, this is an actual shot list for a client who owns a very cool hair salon in the south. The salon has a friendly, “mid-century glam” vibe, and that’s what we’re looking to bring to the website aesthetic.

As you can see, creating a shot list is an important component of the web design process.

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post Web Design Tips: Create a Shot List appeared first on Cuppa SEO.