You do a search on web readability and you will come across Jakob Nielsen, the controversial “usability consultant.” Like that of many “Internet Gurus,” Nielsen’s philosophy for attracting and converting web visitors is simple: have worthwhile content and assume that the web reader is lazy and selfish.
But just one look at his site, and you wonder if anyone would bother navigating through his stuff. His content is noteworthy, as he’s one of the best known authorities on the differences between web and print reading.
The point about Nielsen is not that his site is ugly, but how that affects the readability of his site. Like a lot of online marketers who sell how-to seminars and books, he’s a not a “big picture” kind of guy.
Old Hollywood star Cary Grant said it best: “It takes 500 small details to add up to one favorable impression.” Although content is most important, other factors should be taken into consideration for a worthwhile site: design, layout, and branding.
There is one element in which content and design intersect: font choice.
Font choice is a bigger deal for graphic designers, but newbie web writers should have a basic knowledge on how the style, size, and formatting of font can affect a reader. More importantly, you must know how this one aspect may determine whether a visitor will continue reading your content.
Two basic categorizations for fonts are serif and sans serif. Serif fonts are the ones with those cute little curlicues hanging around at the tips of the letters. Think Times New Roman, Courier New, and Georgia. Sans Serif fonts are without the extra bits, such as Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, and Franklin Gothic.
VERY General Rule of Thumb: For body text, in general, sans serif fonts are more readable on computer screens, while serif fonts are generally recommended for print materials.
Also, keep in mind that some fonts were created specifically for screen viewing, like Verdana and Georgia.
One way to improve readability is to use sans serif font for paragraphs and serif fonts for headlines as a contrast.
Font choice is a part of branding, and it is a huge part of developing the character of your site as well as your product or service. You can use it to make your site elegant and journalistic or modern and minimalistic or funky and off-the-wall. And if you become a large organization, you may afford your own custom typeface, like the Economist.
Remember, design and content are supposed to work together. Don’t make the mistake of discounting one in favor of the other.
