Part of making your blog or website unique involves picking fonts that speak to you and your brand. Thankfully you can customize your site using the 30 free Google fonts available on WordPress.com. The platform enables users to choose and preview fonts, allowing you to test-drive them and make sure they’re a good fit for your content before any changes go live.
If you’re not certain how to go about choosing the right font for your website or blog, the following tips will help you get started!
I’ve got a feeling
When it comes to the principles of design, consider the themes and feelings that you want to evoke within your readers as you choose fonts for your website. If you’re a blogger, what are the main topics that you cover? Is your blog dedicated to tips and tricks for living a minimalist lifestyle? If so, consider using clean and simple sans serif fonts. Serif fonts incorporate extra visual details like curls and lines into the letters. Sans serif fonts are ones without those extra touches.
If you’re a business owner, consider the products and services you’re selling. If your business makes custom chain-mail jewelry, you could look for an older-looking serif font that echoes past print traditions.
Try out the available Google fonts for WordPress.com. To get started, you can follow these directions for choosing custom fonts for your site. The Customizer allows you to preview swap out fonts easily.
Rock your body
The body of your website is where you’ll find the bulk of your text, including product descriptions, blog posts, and your “About Me” page. For your body copy, choose a font that is easy to read. You don’t want your fans to feel like they’re trying to decipher a handwritten cursive letter when all they want is to purchase kitchen utensils. Thankfully, WordPress.com eliminates some of the guesswork by only offering font options that work well in the body copy. You won’t find a particularly frilly font as an option here.
If you’re looking for simple and understated sans serif fonts, some choices include Arimo, Karla, Lato, Open Sans, and Quattrocento Sans. These would work well with websites that follow clean and modern themes — if you sell IKEA-style kitchen utensils, for example.
Do you want to imitate the look of a typewritten post? Then Anonymous Pro or Source Code Pro are fun choices. If you’re looking for a serif font with a more traditional feel, you might consider Alegreya, Gentium Book Basic, Libre Baskerville, or Noticia Text.
Can I have your attention, please?
For headlines and titles, or when emphasizing something in the center of a landing page, you’ll want to use an attention-grabbing font. Again, it should arouse specific feelings within your readers and align with the theme of your website.
If you blog about creative STEM activities for preschoolers or you have a business selling crocheted animal hats, you could try using fun fonts like Cherry Swash or Lobster Two. For a more serious and mature look, consider Cinzel, Merriweather, Noticia Text, or Playfair Display.
A dynamic duo
Once you experiment with various fonts and find ones that you like for your headlines and body copy, make sure that they pair well together. Once more, consider your site’s overall look and feel. A fun, swirly font like Cherry Swash would probably look strange paired with a more serious font that looks like something you would use to write computer code, like Source Code Pro.
To help you get started, here are some free Google fonts for WordPress.com that make perfect pairs:
For a more formal and mature look, the Tangerine and Lora fonts look elegant together.
Use Cherry Swash and Quattrocentro Sans to create a more laid-back and modern vibe.
For a traditional 18th-century look, try Fondamento and Alegreya together.
Lobster Two and Karla are great options if you want to create a mellow feel for your website.
If you want your website to look and feel sophisticated, pair Cinzel with Noto Serif.
Remember that the proper fonts can convey the right message to your audience, so be sure to keep the principles of design for pairing fonts in mind when creating your website or page.
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