The use of fonts on your website is very important and can ultimately affect whether your customer stays to read the website content. Here’s a couple things to think about when exploring the world of typography:

- Font needs to work well on most computers

- Font needs to match the design of your website

- Font needs to work well with the color scheme and be easy to read

- Font throughout your site needs to have a hierarchy

- Font size may vary depending on your readers

Font needs to work on most computers
Websites fonts are limited to the fonts available on most computers. “Web Safe Fonts” are typeface fonts installed on a significant proportion of computers used to access the web. All other fonts need to be designed as “images” so they’ll be readable on all computers. Note: this trend may be ending soon – there are several sites out there that work around this general rule, however, I’ll save that for another blog.

Here’s a list of some of web safe fonts:

Most Common Serif Fonts: Bookman Old Style, Cambria, Constantia, Garamond, Georgia Palatino Linotype, Times New Roman

Most Common Sans Serif Fonts: Arial, Arial Black, Calibri, Candara, Century Gothic, Corbel Helvetica, Impact, MS Sans Serif, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS, Verdana

Most Common Monospaced Fonts: Consolas, Courier New, Courier

For a more detailed list, click here.

Font needs to match the design of your website
When developing the design of your website, spending time choosing the right font that fits into your web design is critical. The font must match the general “look and feel” and work well with your site. When evaluating the overall design, don’t overlook the font – it just might make a difference in the amount of time a reader spends on your website.

Font needs to work well with the color scheme and be easy to read
Once you choose the font that works with your website design, don’t overlook the use of the font with color, bold, italics, etc. The font should be easy to read – for example if your background color on your website is red, choosing a paragraph font that’s easy to read against this background may be challenging. If you’re concerned that your readers may be discouraged and have difficulty reading your words, you may need to evaluate your web layout design. In addition, looking for font colors that contrast with your background or other colors on your website is important. If your website is difficult to read, think twice!

Font throughout your site needs to have a hierarchy
Your reader should easily be able to distinguish a title or heading on your website from the rest of the body copy. Varying type size is one of  the best ways to differentiate content. Readers should be able to easily navigate through your text and “pick and choose” what they want to read.

Font size may vary depending on your readers
Know your target audience. If your blog is mostly 20-something readers, don’t worry too much if your font is on the small side. But if you’re targeting the baby-boomers, consider going with a larger font. I know, it’s not always pretty or optimal, but if you design the site with your target audience in mind – taking that extra time to evaluate the font just might make the difference.

Lastly, don’t overdue it. Keep it simple and don’t choose too many different kinds of fonts – if you have to use multiple fonts, make sure they’re in the same family and compliment each other. Typography is not easy, and you can spend hours searching for the perfect font. Don’t give up – your readers will thank you!

A favicon icon is a small, but very important part of marketing your website. A favicon icon is a 16X16 pixel icon associated with a website. It’s the tiny icon that shows up when you bookmark a particular website. It’s also the icon that shows up in your browser tab (or window) where your website URL is displayed.

Here’s a couple examples of favicon icons:

Here’s the top reasons you need a Favicon Icon for your website:

- Favicons help the user to identify pages among the web browser tabs

- They help to visually identify bookmarks

- Makes internet browsing a more comfortable experience

- Most importantly they promote brand awareness for your company and create a professional online presence for your website

Ask your web designer about adding a Favicon to your website today!

Web Design Tip #1 : Words for your Website

Often we focus solely on website design, when the words are equally (if not more important) then how the website looks. First of all, if you’re paying for a web company to create your website, you want the words to match. Many times, you want to save a buck and just focus on the design but the words need to make sense and more importantly need to speak to your customers (the people who are looking at your website). If the words are not meaningful to prospective customers, there’s a higher probability that your customers may leave your site and not come back.

Another even more important reason words on your website are so invaluable, is they can actually help you achieve HIGHER RANKINGS ONLINE. If you write the copy with descriptive keywords in mind, you may see higher Google rankings. Keywords are simply the words that someone may type into a Google search to find your website. Putting together a comprehensive keyword list and sprinkling them throughout your website copy is a great way to boost your rankings.

Here’s my Top Five Tips to Stay on Track:

1) If budget allows, hire a professional writer

2) Track your website keywords via Google Analytics

3) Get feedback from your customers

4) Narrow down your target audience

5) Proof, proof and proof!

I just learned about a group called EcoTuesday that meets once a month to network and talk about the environment. The group originally started in San Fran (I know big shock!) and is spreading like wildfire across the country. EcoTuesday was started to bring sustainable business leaders together to potentially create products and services that will make a positive impact on the planet. This Tuesday I’m going to attend my first ever eco network event. I’ll be sure to keep you posted!