Google Fonts for your Holistic Website Design in 2021: Free, Easy to Use, and Web-Friendly
Choosing fonts for your doula website can be crazy overwhelming. Not only are there gazillons to choose from, but you also have to ensure that they are a) legible, b) affordable, c) match your brand, and d) web-friendly. As The Website Doula I definitely have some favourite sources of quality fonts, including Font Squirrel and My Fonts. My top go-to source for fonts on client websites, however, is consistently Google Fonts.
I love Google Web Fonts because the site offers a wonderful variety of fonts that are easy to install, free, and completely web friendly. All attractive qualities for most doula practice owners!
In case you're not sure what I mean by web friendly, here's the basic explanation: In order for a site visitor to be able to see a chosen font on your site, that font has to be sourced form somewhere. If it's a standard font such as Times New Roman, that will easily convey because we all have Times New Roman on our devices. Specialized fonts, however, must be linked to some kind of source to load that file correctly on your website; either installed within your site files, or through an online link such as Google Web Fonts.
Google just launched a new version of their fonts website, and I love the changes.
It took me a few minutes to figure out how to use the new format, but I find it even easier to manage and explore. Below you'll find a quick tutorial introducing you to the site and how to find your dream fonts for free!
Now, if you'd love a little guidance in picking out the perfect font mix for your website, I encourage you to hop on over to Pinterest where you can search all kinds of resources on choosing a font. I've created a font board highlighting some great posts sharing potential google web font and other font pairings.
In addition to my font collection board, also try searching pinterest with terms such as "best google fonts", "unique google fonts", "google font combinations", "best google handwriting fonts", etc...
How to Install your Google Web Font
- Working with a WordPress Site? Click here to learn how to install your Google Fonts on WordPress. Now you could also simply use a Google Web Fonts plugin, but in general it's better to avoid plugins that are unnecessary; it is easy enough to install a google font yourself without adding another plugin to your site (they can slow things down).
- Is your site on Weebly? Click Here to Install Google Fonts on Weebly!
- Using Squarespace? They already have Google Fonts installed within the platform. Take a look at this tutorial to choose your fonts on Squarespace.