However the actual number of fonts that web masters can use for their web pages is not as expansive as you might think because what you decide to use will have to take into consideration what the visitors to your website have installed on their own computers. This article will tell you what you have to consider when you build your website and choose the fonts.
Play It Safe
You have to take into consideration that people will be using different systems to view your web pages. The use of Macs, Windows, Unix and others means that the Font or Fonts you choose have to be compatible for all. Always have in the back of your mind that you want to make the visit to your web page as easy and as uncomplicated as possible and this applies to the Fonts too.
It is no coincidence that two of the most commonly used fonts all across the internet are Times New Roman and Arial. These are two fonts which are installed as default by both Windows and Mac operating systems and subsequently can found in the majority of websites.
The best ways to overcome the lack of compatibility in operating systems is when using a website creator and there are many free website creators out there, is to have a family of three fonts which are similar in appearance. Probably the best and most commonly used family of fonts is the trio consisting of Arial, Helvetica and Sans-Serif.
What this means is if the computer has the Arial font installed, (which most do) the web browser is to use that font to render the pages on the site. If not, it will attempt to use the Helvetica font. If this is also not available, then it will just use any sans serif font that it can. Arial and Helvetica are very similar in appearance and common enough that it is supported on just about most computers.
Because of the similarity of Arial and Helvetica, to the average casual visitor to your web page, they may even be indistinguishable. Between the systems using the Arial font and those with the Helvetica font this is a combination that fundamentally covers just about most, if not all, operating systems that are out there. Some people have a preference for the combination of Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, so that if the Helvetica typeface is available, it will be used as a preference to Arial. And as mentioned before, what is used does come down to preference and although one mans meat is another mans poison, the very least you can do is provide a font that works.
Why Similar Fonts?
It is good to choose similar fonts to aid with the natural flow of a website. When you build your own website you want it to have a flow that will encourage the visitor to click through to further pages. You do not want to provide the visitor with a disjointed, non flowing website that uses a variety of different fonts. By selecting 5 or 6 different fonts throughout your website you will only confuse the visitor and will do absolutely nothing to enhance the ‘brand‘ that you are trying to establish. Stick with what people would want and expect and if you want to provide a bit of variety (apparently it’s the spice of life) then go with a font that can be put in a family of fonts that will provide enough likeness and similarity to your website, no matter what the operating system of the visitor.
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