Typography & Web Design: Use Text to Increase Website Conversions
Want to level up your web design? Here's how to use typography to improve user experience, nail your messaging, and increase website conversions.
The role of typography in web design goes far beyond the simple selection of fonts. Choosing the right typeface will make your text more readable, improve its perceived credibility and visual appeal, increase conversions, and boost your sales. According to a survey by GoodFirms, over 61.5% of web designers used an ‘expressive’ typography design to create an engaging look for their websites.
If you want your audience to understand and absorb your content, you’ll need to make sure that your choice of typeface matches what you’re trying to convey.
What is Typography?
Typography is a style of arranging text that is both pleasing to the eye and easy to understand. A quick definition of typography would be the visual representation of language – or the art of selecting typefaces, size, leading (line spacing), tracking (characters spreading), and similar characteristics for web content.
Why is Typography Important in Web Design?
Typography helps brands differentiate themselves through distinctive typefaces, layouts, sizes, and colors (key visual signals in online communication).
While readability should be your top consideration when choosing a font for web design – text that is not readable has no purpose – successful brands know that the visual representation of language can be incredibly impactful. Just as there is a psychological aspect behind the impact of colors and the emotions they evoke, typography can have the same effect.
Typography can set the tone or atmosphere, intrigue readers, and create contrast with the surrounding content. Furthermore, it can improve website navigation by guiding visitors using textual clues like headings or secondary navigation options.
Different fonts within the same family are often complementary, so it’s best to find fonts that share similarities. Spend time browsing fonts and find one that works best for your site.
Benefits of Typography for Web Design
- Humanizes your Brand
Typography serves as a valuable bridge between a user and your brand. By incorporating a custom font in your web design, you can give your brand more character and help humanize it. That way, users can relate to it on a more personal level. It may seem trivial, but investing time into your typefaces can be incredibly rewarding for your business’ image.
- Improves User Experience
Ensuring a seamless user experience is extremely important for any website, and readability plays a significant factor. By implementing the right colors and fonts in your web design, you can deliver your message effectively and make your content more engaging.Whatever typeface you choose should be legible and have clear letterforms. Reliable website builders can assist in creating a minimalistic, attractive web design to improve customer experience and boost conversions.
- Builds Trust
If your website has a lot of broken links and an outdated design, visitors might get the impression that your business is unreliable. Research conducted by WebFx showed that 75% of a website’s credibility is determined by web design.
Good typography can increase also increase recognizability and brand awareness. It helps to positively position your business in the minds of your visitors, gain their trust, and convert them into loyal customers.
- Improves Conversion Rates
More engagement with your audience means higher conversion rates. How your typography looks – mainly the body text – will significantly impact how viewers perceive your brand, products, and message.
Good typography delivers your message quickly and easily, allowing people to spend less time deciphering your typeface and more time focusing on your brand, products, or services.
How to Use Typography Effectively
There are many different strategies for displaying information on a website. Using different typefaces, colors, sizes, alignment, and paragraph spacing can give visitors a new perspective on your content. Here are some minor tweaks you can make to your website to use typography to its greatest potential.
- Add Variety
eCommerce website builders provide access to different templates that are optimized to generate higher conversions. These templates contain different font combinations that can add variety to your site. It’s a great way to keep readers engaged, but don’t overdo it! Try not to use more than three font types on each website. Tapping into typography trends can also be a great way to mix up your message and appeal to a broader audience.
- Experiment With Color
The color of your font can convey certain emotions: for example, you can use the color red to create a sense of urgency or blue to evoke a sense of calm. By experimenting with color, you can take your visitors on an immersive journey where they can emotionally connect with your brand.
- Keep It Simple
Sometimes less is more. Creating a simple, minimal layout can help increase conversion rates by avoiding confusion or unnecessary complexity.
Examples of Websites with Good Typographic Design
All great websites have a few things in common: they make good font choices, maintain visual consistency, and foster a feeling of familiarity.
1. Kissmetrics
Kissmetrics utilizes a blue color scheme alongside straightforward typography, enhancing readability. The website has a clean layout which makes it easy to navigate, and the design is modern yet warm and inviting.
2. Mashable
Similarly, Mashable’s typography is modern, clean, and highly readable. The typeface they’ve used, Gotham Medium, is versatile and works in various settings.
3. The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post‘s website uses large, easy-to-read fonts for its headings and smaller font sizes for subheadings and body copy. This visual hierarchy helps visitors easily identify key sections and essential information.
To wrap up…
While it’s difficult to believe that something as simple as a font could cost you conversions, effective typography is key to good user experience and engagement. Correct typography can significantly impact how visitors perceive and experience your brand.
By selecting the right fonts and colors and staying up-to-date with typography trends, you can ensure your message is communicated loud and clear.
Author: Muhammad Anas
Muhammad Anas is an internet marketing specialist at Point Visible providing link-building and content marketing services. he enjoys sharing his insights with like-minded enthusiasts and is never tired of searching for new opportunities to advance his knowledge both in and outside work. When he finds some free time, his neck-deep learning about tech.
